A Novel To Remember
by Destineehope10
Summary: Oozing control, feisty journalist Bella Swan is determined to make it big in the writing world. Then devastatingly atractive Edward Cullen, rising Hollywood star makes her an offer she cant refuse. Soon Bella's life consists of scandles and deception.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: unfortunately all the characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. **

**This is my first twilight fanfic... so I hope you like. :)**

The main roads were crammed with unenthusiastic drivers as they made their way into work on this particularly dark and cloudy Monday morning. I pushed my foot down on the accelerator as hard as I could without causing the car to lurch forward and assault the vehicle in front. Patience had evaded me as I tried to dodge my way through the stream of slow moving cars, travelling at a turtle pace due to their driver's reluctance to start the working week. It didn't matter how many cars I seemed to pass, the ones in front of me appeared to multiply, making the never ending traffic look even more infinite.

Admitting defeat, I sighed and stopped trying to find my way out of the never ending maze of traffic. There was no point in trying to fight the inevitable. I was already an hour late due to the chaos on the roads, and there was no way I was going to make it into work within the next half hour before my meeting started. I was so sure that in that meeting I was going to receive the promotion I had been so desperately seeking after, but being tardy was definitely not going to win it for me. For the last year I had been busting my ass, trying to be the best I could possibly be. Working in journalism was an extremely competitive career path, and even though I was young, I knew if I didn't make my mark before I was twenty five, I was going to find it harder and harder to make myself known and sought after, delaying my dream of becoming a hot upcoming writer that everyone wanted to employ.

As I came to yet another stop, my phone started buzzing insistently, crying out for attention. Predicting that the person on the other end of the line would be my dragon of a boss Victoria, I gave myself a quick inner pep talk before switching to hands free and knocking the volume dial down on my car radio.

'Bella Swan.' I answered, making my voice sound as subdued as possible, hoping this might soften the wrath Victoria was most definitely going to throw at me. It was like we were two in a pack of dogs and she was the alpha, I always backed down towards her to show my respect and willingness to follow her commands. (Not to mention that I was more than slightly scared of her.

'Bella, where the hell are you?' She snapped, her sharp high pitched voice making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Victoria was a very clever business woman. She knew what she wanted and she did everything imaginable to get it, not letting anything stand in her way. With her lean, tall body and fiery hair, she reminded me of a feminine version of the devil. She had a cold devious side to her and if you got on her bad side, god help you. She was definitely a force to be reckoned with. However, although the woman scared me half to death most of the time by just looking in my direction with her stony gaze, I couldn't help but feel a sort of admiration towards her. She worked hard at what she did and always stood up for what she believed was right. She may have been a terrifying boss, but one thing was for sure, when she saw potential in any of her employees, she pushed us for all we were worth, never letting us quit until we got the outcome she knew we were all capable of.

'Sorry. I'm stuck in traffic. I'll be there as soon as I can.' I replied, knowing an apology wouldn't appease her, no matter how sincere.

She practically scoffed down the phone, her throat making a vile scratching noise. 'Make sure you get here in the next twenty minutes. I don't wait for anyone Bella; you've worked here long enough to know that.' The line went dead.

'Shit!'

My hold on the steering wheel constricted making my knuckles go white from the lack of blood flow. This wasn't good. I couldn't miss out on whatever Victoria had wanted to discuss with me, I just couldn't. I had worked too damn hard to pass up on whatever she had in mind because of some lazy drivers, who didn't want to get their asses in gear.

Jammed in the middle of all these cars made me feel like a caged animal at the zoo, I needed to get out; I needed to get to work. Panicking slightly, I looked to my right; the lane there was moving a little more freely so I pulled out of my current lane and into that one. With a bit of luck I might just get to work in the time limit Victoria had given me.

After a hell of a lot of unnoticed speeding, I managed to get to my office block with five minutes to spare. I don't know how I really managed it, but I wasn't going to question myself just yet. I needed to get inside before Victoria got in too much more of a pissy.

Signalling that I was turning left, I navigated my way into the office's parking lot. Things seemed to be looking up a bit, I was nearly there, and maybe with a bit of luck things might start going right for me today. However that hope went out the window pretty quickly because, in my smug state, I neglected to see the black BMW that was speeding through the parking area after entering from the other entrance. If I had, I might just have avoided what happened next. Once the car zoomed into my periphery vision, my reflexes kicked in. I considered breaking for a split second but soon realised if I did that there was no way to avoid the collision, so I slammed my foot on the accelerator and attempted to swerve out of harms way. The screeching of tyres from the other car echoed throughout the parking lot, making its approach known. But the warning didn't matter and neither did how fast or strongly we both acted, it wasn't going to prevent the collision. In slow motion, but moving so fast at the same time, the other car ploughed right into the side of my own, sending my car and I skidding across the concrete. I gripped the steering wheel harder, as if by doing so the car would somehow come to a stop, but obviously that didn't happen. The sickening squeal of metal hitting metal was still ringing in my ears, even after my car had come to an eventual halt, and now that my adrenaline had worn out, I suddenly felt very light headed and shaky. Closing my eyes, I tried to slow my breathing from erratic gasps to calm normal breaths, knowing that hyperventilating wasn't going to help with my woozy head. Once I had managed to get my breathing under control, nervously biting my lip I looked at the other car, sitting calmly where I was a minute ago, the only give away that it had had an accident was the slight dent in the front bumper and a scratch along the front. What the hell!

I quickly gave myself a once over, making sure that I hadn't acquired any injuries in the car wreck, then realising for once, that no damage had occurred to me physically, I shot out the car and towards the other driver who was also vacating his vehicle. Looking back I realised my car had suffered much more in the crash that the other car, the passengers side was dented so prominently it was practically caving in on itself. Good thing that the idiot responsible for the damage was going to pay for it, because just by looking at it I could tell it was going to cost a lot to have it fixed. Marching towards him, my vision was impaired by the red haze of anger bubbling away in me. One day, that was _all_ I wanted, just one day where everything went right. That wasn't asking for much. The god's could throw anything at me after today, but I just wanted things to flow nicely for these twenty four hours.

The maniac of a driver I had had the pleasure of bumping into – literally – was completely out of his car now and standing tall walking towards me. His strides and hold on himself exuded control and purpose and his posture told me he was someone who thought highly of themselves. However, It was at that moment that my fiery haze seemed to desert me, because stood in front of me seemed to be the most drop dead gorgeous, god like male, I had ever seen in my entire life. He was tall, not over tall so he seemed thin and weedy, but a nice height, just over six foot I'd say, he was a height that would make a woman feel safe and secure when his arms wrapped around her. He had a stern build to him with noticeable muscley arms and wide shoulders and I would take a wild guess and say he probably owned a six pack as well. His bronze hair was set in a casual disarray and shimmered with goldeny streaks under the dimmed parking lot lighting; it reminded me of a much welcome fire in the middle of winter. His eyes were what got me the most though; they were a vibrant, unique green, like two sparkling jade stones. I had never seen green eyes so light before, they were mesmerising, the kind of eyes someone could fall into and never come out of. Then, there was his face, his heavenly, angelic face. His features were all perfect, completely one hundred percent _perfect_. Not one flaw did he hold. His square jaw was strong and slightly stubble covered, his nose was straight and angular and his thin, light pink lips were in perfect proportion with each other; the top lip supporting an amazingly flawless cupid's bow. He was literally the epitome of perfection, but as he came to a stop in front of me, I realised there was something vaguely familiar about him.

'Look what you did to my car!' The angel like man yelled, his green eyes glowering dangerously. It was nice of him to ask if I was okay. To apologize for driving so irresponsibly. Jackass, and just like that, my awed bubble of dazzlement popped. It was plainly obvious that the only person this guy cared about was himself.

'Your car? _Your _car! What about mine, you've practically butchered it!' I retorted, violently pointing at my battered car.

He snorted and crossed his arms over his broad chest. A smirk flittered across his features and he adopted a patronizing air when consulting me. 'Well, maybe if you were travelling the speed us normal people drive at, this whole thing could have been avoided.'

'Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise I was at a race track.' I snapped, my fist itching to snap out and hit him. This urge surprised me, I was usually a very non-violent person, but dealing with a person like the one in front of me, I could change my mind right?

'I wasn't going fast!' He hissed, throwing his arms up in exasperation.

'Maybe not in your world, but here going one hundred miles an hour is classed as speeding. You can get a speeding ticket for it.' Okay, maybe I was over exaggerating, with the whole one hundred miles per hour thing, he wasn't quite travelling that fast when he hit my car, but he wasn't exactly going slowly either.

'Okay, if we're playing this game, do you know what else you can get a ticket for? Travelling too slowly. A snail travels faster than you.' He laughed lamely at his own joke, but his chuckle had no humour behind it.

'Yeah, well whatever. I don't care what you think; there is nothing wrong with my driving. I just hope you know that you're paying for the repairs on my car.' I watched with smug satisfaction as the smirk slowly slipped off of his face, being replaced with an annoyed grimace. Annoyed that I had got one up on him and that I planned to make him pay for his actions.

'Like hell I am! If anything it is _you_ paying for _my _car.'

'If you think I'm doing that you are completely deluded.' I chuckled. There was no way I was going to pay for the actions of his stupidity.

'I'm telling you now; you are going to pay to fix my car!' He warned. I could sense he was used to people bending to his every whim, but with me that wasn't the case, and that was something he had never experienced before.

'And I am telling you, it's not going to happen.'

'Oh, but I think it is.' He nodded, still trying to get his own way.

'Uh-uh, nope, all you have to do is look at the two cars and see the damage to tell which driver was at fault. We can call the police if you want, I can have you reported for dangerous driving or we could sort it like adults. Basically either way, you are at fault; you are going to pay for it.'

'I'm not giving you a dime.'

'You know what. I don't have the time to take this shit. Give me your details, I'll give you mine. I've got a really busy job and an extremely important meeting I need to make in...' I looked down at my watch. 'three minutes ago.' Shit.

He scoffed and fetched his wallet out. 'You think you have a high maintenance job?' He asked flicking through his cards, as I did the same with mine. 'Do you have any idea who I am?'

We exchanged details, and then I looked up at him and smirked. 'Nope, nor do I care.' I turned on my heel and shot off towards the exit, leaving my car exactly where it was, not having the time to move it.

I tucked the guy's details into my jacket pocket and ran a hand through my hair, hoping that I didn't look as dishevelled as I felt. As I entered the building, I didn't bother to wait for the elevator, not moving would make me more agitated, so I just darted for the stairs, taking them two at a time, as quickly as my annoyingly tiny legs would take me; it was only five floors up right?

Arriving at my department, I flung the doors open and made a beeline for the office. Sweat started to coat my forehead in a light sheen – most likely smudging my make up - and my chest was heaving with constricting pants. I hadn't remembered those stairs being so steep and so many. Before I entered the office, I saw my friend Angela, sitting at her desk, staring into space.

'Can you park my car for me?' That's if it will start after the accident I just had. She gave me a questioning look. 'I'll tell you what happened later, but I'm late for my meeting with Victoria.'

Angela pushed her chair back and held her hand out for me to throw the keys to her. Bless her. 'Fine, but you owe me a coffee later.'

I smiled gratefully at her and tossed the keys, before shooting off towards the meeting room. 'I'm here, I'm here!' I gasped, pushing open the double doors (which were heavier than they looked) and stopped at the front of the room.

There were two people sat there staring at me. First of all there was Victoria, her angry gaze boring into mine, looking every bit the high powered career woman she was, in her designer suit. I was seriously going to get an earful later. Great.

The second person in the room I did not recognise. He had pale blue eyes with flecks of grey in them and short ashy blonde hair, cropped short, close to his scalp. He was of average size from what I could see with him sitting in front of me and he had a skinny, almost weedy shape to him. He possessed a cute podgy baby face, the kind you associate with a stereotypical mama's boy. He looked friendly enough, but by the way he was holding himself, I was pretty sure that he was very involved with his own self-importance.

The room remained silent as I panted away, trying to regain my breath and composure. Once my chest stopped searing every time I inhaled, I mentally prepared myself to start giving my excuses, but just as I opened my mouth, someone else entered the room. I turned to see who it was and my mouth fell open so much I could practically taste the dust on the laminated floor.

'You.' I gasped, my eyes narrowing into a scowl.

'And you.' The guy who had totalled my car replied. His expression matching mine. Displeased.

'What the hell are you doing here?' I inquired, not bothering to be polite, with everything that had happened today, my manners were pretty much the last thing I cared about now.

'I could ask you the same question.' He retorted, looking at the man I didn't know, for confirmation or back up, or whatever else he wanted. Something seemed to click in his head and he cringed. 'She's not Isabella Swan?' He begged, looking like a child who had lost their favourite toy.

'How do you know my name?' I demanded, enjoying the appearance of displeasure present itself on his features when he realised that I in fact was Isabella Swan.

'Silence!' Victoria yelled, slashing her arms through the air as if by doing so we would immediately stop talking. 'First of all, you are both unfashionably late.' She hissed. The venom in her voice made me cower away, moving closer to the guy I had just met, as even though he was a jackass, I still felt a sense of protection from him due to his height.

'Sorry.' I muttered almost inaudibly. I don't know what it was about her – well yes I do, it was the fact that she could probably make a body builder cry by just looking at them – but she always brought out the coward-like side of me instead of the usual confidence I presented.

Victoria glared at me – obviously the apology was not accepted – and then continued with what she wanted to say. 'I'm guessing that you two are already acquainted.'

I cleared my throat and nodded at her. 'Yeah, he's part of the reason I'm late. Manic driver here decided to plough into the side of my car and-'

'She pulled out right in front of me!' He yelled, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

'Like hell I did! I-' I was interrupted by Victoria's sharp snappy voice.

'Both of you shut it! We're at work, not in the playground.' She took an exasperated breath then continued with her lecture. 'Since you both know each other, we can cut this short. First of all, both of you sit!'

I did as I was told immediately, knowing that refusing Victoria was like signing you own death wish. So I sat in one of the two available chairs in the office, but my new acquaintance, remained standing. Victoria sighed irritably. 'Mr Cullen, I'm a very busy woman and I have a mountain of things I have to do. Let's get things straight, I don't care who you are, or what you do or how important you think you are, when in my work place you will do as I say, now sit!' She pointed at the chair next to me.

As she was giving her orders to our new comer something clicked in my head. I realised why he looked so familiar. 'Mr Cullen' Victoria had said. Mr Cullen... Mr Cullen, oh my god! 'You're Edward Cullen.' I gasped, my eyes widening with realisation as he sat down next to me.

'Ah, so _now_ you know who I am, how convenient.' He turned and smirked at me. Convenient how exactly?

'Anyway.' Victoria turned to me and tilted her head to the left towards the baby faced man I didn't know. 'Bella, I'd like you to meet Mike Newton. Mr Newton here is Mr Cullen's Agent. He's here to offer you a job.'

'A job?' I asked. What in the hell could an agent offer me job wise?

Mr Newton spoke up now. His raspy voice filling the silence in the room. 'We have a proposition for you Isabella.' He paused, a small smile shaping his lips. 'May I call you Isabella?'

'Bella.' I corrected.

Mr Newton nodded and continued with his purpose. 'Okay Bella, here is the deal.' He swallowed and looked at Edward for the go ahead. Edward nodded his head almost unnoticeably. 'Edward is going to be publishing an autobiography early next year. But although he has many talents, writing sellable books is not one of them. So we need someone to write the book for us, and you are the person we want.'

Wow, I had not been expecting that. 'So you want me to be a ghost writer for Mr Cullen?' I asked, listening to myself voicing the question just sounded foolish, like I had got the complete wrong end of the stick. Why would a famous world known actor want me, a small town journalist to write his autobiography?

'Yes. That is exactly what we want.' Mr Newton confirmed. An annoyingly fake smile pasted onto his rounded face.

I was silent for a moment, needing some time to process what I had just been told. Well, least I knew my writing had been recognized, I just didn't think it would be recognized in this way. I thought if I was going to get noticed it would be by a higher magazine or paper, I never though it would get asked to write someone a book.

'Is there a deadline?' I asked. I don't know why I asked it; or rather I don't know why I asked that question before I asked any others concerning the project. I mean a deadline is something I need to know when I accept the offer, or should I say _if _I accept the offer? I think I was a little shocked at the proposal to say the least and I was one hundred percent positive that my brain wasn't functioning the way it should. _That's it Bella, show them you are the right one for the job by playing dumb, that's exactly what they are looking for! _

'You have six months to write it.' Six months, Six months? Sure, I could write the book in that time easy... if I didn't have a job. I mean seriously, was this supposed to take priority over my full time, paying job? I think not.

'What about my job?' I looked at Victoria, hoping this wasn't her version of a kind way of sacking me. I loved my job; I didn't want to get rid of it, not now anyway.

'Well, we've already discussed this with your lovely boss.' Ha, if he though he was going to get to Victoria by sweet talking her, he really was suicidal, no one could get to Victoria like that. She wasn't some sort of damsel in distress; in fact she was the complete opposite.

It was Victoria's turn to respond now. I saw her immediately stiffen at Mr Newton's flirtatious compliment but apart from that she ignored him. Wow, this must be important to her as well, because the last time someone did that to her, no matter how harmless it was, he had his ass handed to him on a plate. Victoria cleared her throat and looked at me head on. 'If you accept their offer Bella, Mr Newton and Mr Cullen have agreed to give us the first exclusive interview just before the book is released.' Ah, that made sense; something was in it for her and her beloved magazine. I should have known that she didn't just have my best interests at heart. With Victoria you never got anything unless there was something she could gain as well.

I sighed, none of my questions were being voiced quick enough to prevent more and more building in my head. I needed to know so much more. 'So what do I do? Take time off, write from home?' I shook my head quickly at Victoria and Mr Newton. 'I can't afford to miss any work, I need the money.'

'She sure as hell does since she's paying to repair my car.' Mr Cullen chimed in; his witty, beautifully irritating voice spoke.

Everyone ignored him, concentrating more on persuading me to agree to write the book. I smirked and flipped him off. 'Do you hear that Mr Cullen?' I asked, raising a hand to cup my ear. 'Yeah, that silence, that is how much everyone cares for your input.'

He opened his mouth to retort back but Mr Newton and Victoria both silenced him with a warning glare. Ha, nice, for once he has been taken down a peg or two and been shown what it is like being a normal person who has to fight for what they want instead of being handed it on a golden plate.

'I am willing to give you your own private office to work in while you are writing the autobiography...' Victoria said, and then motioned with her hand for Mr Newton to continue where she left off.

'Yes,' he said. 'And as for your pay, we will double your monthly salary for each month you work on the book. And in the long run, you will receive a percentage of the royalties once the book is released and you will be mentioned as the author.'

That sounded pretty reasonable and at this stage in my career, I probably wasn't going to get a better offer. There were a lot of positives to the job, for instance; they said they would pay me well, but the money didn't bother me, I wrote because of my passion for writing, not because I wanted to get as much money as possible. The only thing concerning me was how much time I would have to spend with Mr Cullen. The thought of spending any given time with him was an immediate downer. So many women threw themselves at this man, and to be honest, I just don't understand why. Okay, so yes, he is very fortunate in his looks, but what were looks without a decent personality?

I mulled this over for a minute or two before giving Victoria a nod signalling the go ahead.

'Has anyone anything to add before we hear Bella's decision?' Victoria asked, glancing round the room. 'Or Bella is there anything you would like to ask?'

'Just one quick question.' I replied. 'Exactly how much time am I going to have to spend with Mr Cullen here?' I pointed to Mr Cullen and a dry smile tilted his lips upwards. 'Because if you say a lot, I think you're going to have to triple my salary.'

Mr Cullen's humourless laugh echoed throughout the meeting room. 'You are so funny Bella.' Mr Cullen sighed and leant forward, so his elbows were balanced precariously on his knees. 'Seriously Mike, this is the best you can come up with?'

'Edward, you have been very precise with the qualities you want your ghost writer to possess and Bella holds every single one of them.'

Childishly I stuck my tongue out at him. I know, it made me look _really _professional, but I just couldn't help myself. I had to do something to piss him off more, seeing his annoyance caused by me was addictive and I couldn't help but do it over and over again, to get the same pissed off reaction from him.

'Just to state this now.' I turned to Mr Cullen. 'I don't need this job. I'm perfectly compliant with the job I have, and the extra money has no influence on me. So if you want to spend another few weeks, flicking through possible candidates be my guest. But I'm telling you now, you wont find anyone that could make your book the success that I can.'

Victoria cleared her throat. 'Compliments don't get people anywhere, but Bella is without a doubt one of my best writers and if anyone can make your book sell, it will be her.'

Mr Newton nodded. 'The choice is your Edward.'

He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest glaring at me. 'Fine, the job is yours, but you step one foot out of line and you are gone.' He warned.

I smirked at him and held back the laugh threatening to break through after his 'serious threat' was made. 'And Edward.' I paused and tilted my head to the side, my stare screaming patronization as I surveyed his expression. 'May I call you Edward?' He begrudgingly nodded. 'I hope you know that the threat works both ways. You also 'step one foot out of line.'' I formed quotation marks in the air with my fingers as I said this. 'and I will be gone, and I will take whatever I have written with me.'

His eyes narrowed before he stood and swiftly left the room. He was like a spoilt child who wasn't getting what he wanted. Honestly, how old was he? Cant Edward take a little grown up banter? I could tell Edward and I were going to have problems, we both wanted to be in control and we were both by the looks of it, as stubborn as hell. So we were bound to clash while working together, but one thing I did know. I wasn't going to let a lack of friendship stand in my way of accepting this job offer.

'So Bella, I hope this means you are accepting our job offer?' Mr Newton hedged, his eyes brightening as he realised he was closing the deal.

'Yes Mr Newton. Thank you very much for your offer, and I would be delighted to accept.'

Working with Edward Cullen was going to be my biggest challenges yet.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two –

'I still can't believe it Bells. My sister, working for _the _Edward Cullen. It's fantastic.' Emmett boomed, bringing a bottle of bud to his lips and taking a huge swig.

'I wouldn't say it's fantastic until you've met him.' I chuckled, snatching his bottle from him and taking a sip myself.

Emmet by bear of a big brother was the first person I had called to tell him about my news. He had always supported me in my career choice, knowing that it was without a doubt the only thing I was determined to do with my life. Marriage and babies could wait; I wanted to be a journalist more than anything. When I told my parents that I was planning on going into journalism, neither of them were happy, mainly because they knew I wouldn't be content to just stay in forks and work there, they knew I had big aspirations. Although I loved them, they were selfish enough to try and hold me back, just so they wouldn't be alone.

'Why say that? He's a legend. Do you have any idea how much the guy is worth?' I shook my head. To be honest Edward Cullen could be worth billions and I still wouldn't care. No amount of worth would change the fact the he was a class A jackass with too much self-importance. 'Fifty million!' Emmett boomed excitedly, slamming his fists down on my fragile kitchen table. If he did that again, I had a horrible feeling that the legs would give out. I would say that he was stronger than he looked, but with his size, both height and mass, that just wasn't the case. 'Cullen is worth fifty million and he isn't even twenty six. The guy is insane.'

I chuckled and shook my head. It was animated watching Emmett get so excited about the prospect of me working with an actor. Although the thought didn't impress me or faze me one little bit, with Em he was completely in awe. I chuckled. 'Emmett, if I ever let you meet him, you better be over your little guy crush, because to be honest your attitude towards him is slightly embarrassing. If I didn't know you were engaged to a woman, I would seriously question your sexuality.' Well, okay, that was a lie. There was no way anyone could question Emmett's sexuality. With his tangled mass of matted, curly black hair and square stubble covered jaw, he screamed heterosexual. 'Anyway, before I told you about the job, you didn't give a shit about Edward Cullen, so how the fuck do you know how much he is worth?'

Emmett shifted his gaze to the floor and mumbled quietly in his deep voice. 'I googled him.'

My eyes widened with amusement, the though of my brother on a computer, alone, was enough to shock me, but the fact that he had looked someone up, ignoring his distaste for the internet and computer technology, was even funnier. 'You didn't!' I giggled, laughing harder when I saw his begrudged expression. 'Why on earth would you Google him?'

Emmett scowled at me and removed himself from the table so he could help himself to another one of my beers. 'Because I wanted to know a bit about the guy my baby sister is going to be spending most of her time with. If you're hanging around with him, I want to know that you're safe.' Ah, enter overprotective big brother mode. Throughout my last two years in high school Emmett managed to drive me insane, scaring away any guy who showed even the tiniest interest in me and don't even get me started on what he was like when I was in college.

'Em, seriously, there is no hanging around with him. There is nothing friendly about this arrangement. The only time I will be spending with him is when I need info for the book, so you can relax.'

He smirked at me, pushing his hip into one of the counter tops. 'So you don't even like him a little bit?' His attempt at a goading tone made me want to laugh, but although he was making light of his question, I knew there was complete seriousness behind it.

I removed myself from my chair and wondered over to him, placing my hand on his forearm in reassurance. 'Put it this way, if I had to choose between Cullen, and having a giant IV in my arm for the next six months, I'd go with the IV.'

My comparison between what I would hate more seemed to reassure him slightly. He was blatantly aware of my distaste for needles and knew that I would avoid them at all costs, so me saying I would rather have one stuck in my arm, seemed to ease his worry. And he knew I wasn't lying because I can never now, or even back when we were younger, lie to my brother. He can see right through me and tell immediately if I am not being truthful.

A small smile commandeered his lips as an idea entered his mind. 'You do know Rose is gonna freak.'

I internally cringed at the thought of his fiancé finding out. I knew she would go completely overboard with the whole thing. Especially since I knew for a fact that she was one of Edward's many fans. 'Yeah, I know.' The thought of telling her that I was going to be working with her celebrity crush was very appealing however, just to see how jealous she would be. For once the roles would be reversed. It was usually I, who was in envy of Rosalie. Don't get me wrong, I loved her, she was my best friend and obviously soon to be sister. But for as long as we have been friends, I have always been in her shadow. She has the beauty, the brains and the confidence, and to be honest I only hold one of those qualities, and it isn't the confidence and beauty as those are usually a package deal.

As if Rosalie knew we were talking about her, I heard the front door slam and the quick tap of footsteps as her shoes collided with the linoleum. She flung the kitchen door open and stood there staring at me with an extremely excited expression on her face. 'Oh my god Bella, I can't believe you are working for Edward Cullen, this is huge!' She screeched, throwing her bags on the floor and coming over to me to envelop me in a vice tight hug.

I glared at Emmett over her shoulder, who was now looking sheepish and not meeting my eyes. 'Rosalie how did you-' I was cut off abruptly by her fast paced words, as she gabbled on.

'I had to reread the text Emmett send me, like a million times before I was convinced my eyes weren't playing tricks on me.'

'It's not as-' I started, but again, I was cut off before I could even finish my sentence.

'Oh my god, we're gonna have to get you a new wardrobe for your new job, oh and we'll have to get something sophisticate done with your hair, make you look like the proper career woman. Now that you work for a multimillionaire actor, you need to look presentable. I mean imagine if the paps got a picture of you with him and you were dressed in one of those drab pant suits you wear to the magazine' She shuddered at her idea of a 'hideous' thought.

I took a deep breath as it seemed she might have finished her overexcited rant. 'Rose, I think-' and yet again, she cut me off. Seriously, am I allowed to get a single word in?

'How did you get the job anyway? Did you apply, because if you did, then you should have told us about it, I mean ohmigod! Edward effing Cullen!'

I don't know why I bothered, but I tried to speak again. 'He's not as-'

She released me from her grasp, only to snatch my hand, squeezing it tightly in hers. 'You have to let me meet him.' She begged, her crystal blue eyes shimmering with longing. 'No one at work is going to believe this, I always have to listen to Carmen bragging about how her gay brother is the PA to some hotshot designer in New York. But this.' She gestured to me. 'This is even better.' She took a deep breath and sighed. 'Don't just sit there Bella, say something. I need details. And don't even think about cutting it short-' this time it was her turn to be cut off.

'Jesus Rose, let the poor woman speak. You haven't shut up once since you came through the room.' Emmett laughed, placing his huge hands on his fiancé's shoulders and bringing her back up to standing level, so he could sit her on a chair.

She shut her perfectly sculpted lips. 'Sorry, I'll shut up now.' She pretended to zip them closed.

I nodded and smiled. 'Okay then...'

I told them both absolutely everything. Starting with when he rammed into my car, to after he had stormed out the room in a huff, just before I told Mr Newton that I would accept the job offer. Again, I may have over exaggerated when it came to telling them about his arrogant attitude and speeding, but at the end of the day, it was bad, so I wasn't lying, I was just overstating the truth slightly.

'So he really is an asshole.' Emmett said.

'That's what I've been trying to tell you.' I sighed. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother with all my heart, but he really can be slow sometimes, especially when you don't spell out what you are trying to get through to him. Normally that would drive most women insane, but luckily Rosalie was a kindergarten teacher, so she was used to less academic conversations.

'Yeah, yeah, he has a bad attitude, so what? He could of been having an off day. But if not, who cares? His hotness makes up for that. What I don't get is how you didn't recognize him immediately once he got out of the car.' She frowned, as if that part of the story was the most preposterous part. Rosalie was my best friend, and she meant a lot to me, but sometime I did think she was a bit fickle and vain.

My voice took on a slight tone of annoyance. 'Well to be honest Rosalie, I was a little preoccupied by the fact that his dumbass driving could have killed me.' Don't worry about the little matter of me being nearly killed Rose, as long as we are nice to Edward Cullen, it doesn't matter.

She sighed. 'Bella, give him a break, nobodies perfect.' Her tone was so dismissive that I actually wanted to scream at her, she hadn't even met Edward, so how could she be so far up his ass already? Taking his side over her supposed best friends?

'Rose you know he cant hear you right? You don't need to be such a kiss ass.' I snapped. Was it too much to ask to have my own best friend on my side?

'She's right babe,' Emmett agreed, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. 'You are being a bit of a kiss ass.'

'No, I'm not.' Rosalie defended calmly. She looked me steadily in the eyes. 'I am just looking at it from both sides.'

'From both sides? I assume you mean him and his enormous ego.' I said, smiling at my little witty comment. 'Because that is the only way you can come to the conclusion you have come to.'

Rose scowled at me, knocking Emmett's arms off of her and getting up from her chair so she could look down at me. Making me feel inferior to her on more than the normal levels now. Rose was singlehandedly the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. With her long, shapely legs, wavy waist length platinum blonde hair and curvy shape, she could easily pass for a model. So whenever in her presence, even though I know it sounded petty, I couldn't help but feel jealous and insignificant. 'You've only just met him Bella, so why are you being such a bitch about him? Judge people much?' She shot at me.

'Okay, okay, okay.' Emmett called, standing in between the two of us, being the gigantic peace maker as always. 'Let's change the subject shall we? Now, my little sister has just landed herself a great, well paid project and I for one think that calls for a celebration, meaning it's time for the three of us to go out for drinks, my treat.'

I smiled at Emmett, he always knew how to defuse a situation, and today had been no exception. 'Sounds good.' I admitted as Rose nodded her head in agreement.

'Good. Now Rose and I will go home and change, then we'll swing by and pick you up in an hour.' Emmett told me, placing a brotherly kiss on my forehead and wondering out of my apartment.

Rose lingered back for a second and smiled at me gingerly. She knew all was forgiven. It always was with the two of us. The strange thing with me and Rose being friends was that we were complete opposites. We had nothing in common, and we never ever saw eye to eye. But there was always a mutual understanding between the two of us that if anyone messed with us, they would die, and if we needed each other, we were there. And to be honest it worked. I knew I could trust Rosalie with my worries, even if I couldn't trust her to side with me, when I needed someone on my side.

'Quits?' She asked.

'Quits.' I confirmed giving her a quick hug. 'Now get your ass out of my apartment and hurry up and get ready.'

Once Emmett and Rosalie had left, I went into my office and fetched my laptop out of the top draw on my desk. Before I started getting ready I thought I may as well see what was going on in the world of FaceBook. Not many people were online, most people were having dinner, or settling in for a night in front of the TV. I stared at the empty box at the top of the page. _What's on your mind? _Ghosting my fingers across the keyboard before I typed, I thought of what I wanted to say. So much had happened to me today, how could I sum it up in one sentence? Smiling to myself, I realised what I wanted to write. 'Bella Swan thinks she has finally reached a turning point.' I typed swiftly, then clicked send.

Just as I was about to log off and shut down my computer, the number one appeared above my friend icon, signalling that I had a new friend request. It was probably going to be someone I didn't know, that was usually the case, turns out when you're a reporter loads of people want to add you as a friend hoping you will publish their 'interesting' story.

Once I clicked on the icon though, I was shocked to see that it was in fact Edward Cullen who had sent me the request. Well, I wonder why he wanted me as friend? It hadn't even crossed my mind to add him. Although I wouldn't class him as a friend, I accepted his request and then moved my mouse over to log off. Just as I was about to log off, instant messenger kicked in, a box appearing with 'Edward Cullen' flashing in white and blue. Ha, this was bound to be good.

_You start tomorrow at nine. Got it? _I could imagine him scowling at his computer as he said this, his perfectly smooth forehead creasing in annoyance at the prospect of having to put up with me for the next six months or so.

I smirked at my laptop screen. _No sorry. I cant quite seem to crack your complex code. When do you want me to start. _If he was going to treat me like a child, then I might as well take the opportunity to act like one. Anyway it was fun winding him up, he was so easily pissed off.

_Don't get smart with me. I'm your boss now sweetheart._

That made me laugh. A boss was some organised in control person, who wasn't too stressed out by anything and had everything in hand, and Mr Edward Cullen held none of those redeeming qualities. And anyway, wasn't my boss supposedly the person who was paying me?

_Are you the one signing my pay checks? _

His response was automatic. _No. _

I shook my head. He wasn't the brightest spark. I could imagine actually having this debate with him in person, I think this guy just likes confrontation. _Then you aren't my boss. You just have influence. _I replied reasonably. It was true, Edward might have a big say in me writing this book, but he definitely was not my boss.

It took a while for him to reply, he was probably having a hard time thinking of a response to my truthful statement. _Influence that could get you sacked. _

It was that moment that I realised that whenever Edward and I got into an argument or disagreement, he was going to throw that 'I have influence' bullshit at me, claiming to get me sacked and that just wasn't the way I worked, if he was going to constantly throw threats at me, I was going to make life miserable for the both of us. The best thing I could do, without backing down, was try to be reasonable.

_Let's cut the bullshit shall we? I don't like you and you don't like me, but this arrangement works, and you know as well as I do, working together we could make this book huge. This job has promise to boost my own career and you'll be basically guaranteed a bestseller. So I suggest we put the animosity aside, suck it up and like the grown ups we are, work together._

There it was, he either accepted or he didn't. But we needed to get things as cleared up as possible otherwise the next six months were going to be unbearable for both of us.

_Fine. But I want you round mine for work by nine. _Typical type of answer. I had called the shots with my peacemaking and his emasculated feelings were shining through his words. I was the one in control a second ago and that scared the shit out of him, so now by demanding me be round his at a certain time he was snatching the control back.

_I don't know where you live. _I replied honestly. For once this wasn't me being awkward, I genuinely didn't have a clue where he lived.

_I'll come get you. Be ready by eight thirty._

And he knew how I lived how...? _You don't know where I live. _

It took a while for him to respond, I was guessing that he wasn't a typer, or a fast one anyway, eventually though the message came through.

_Please Bella, when you're me you have contacts that sort that trivial shit out._

Then a second later it appeared _Edward is offline._

Wow, he really was sociable. It was going to be great fun getting to know him, I though sarcastically. And with that, I managed to log off and shut down my computer without any more interruptions.

Getting ready to go out was easy. I already knew what I was going to wear, because knowing Emmett we were only going to the local club. He didn't really do fancy dinners or anything. But that was okay, the fact that he was making an effort to treat me to a night out was enough for me. I mean, considering Emmett wasn't exactly what you call wealthy, it was nice of him to offer to spend some of his hard earned cash on me.

Once I was finished getting ready, I sprayed myself with my favourite perfume, Jennifer Lopez's Live. I always thought a small amount of scent finished off an outfit, because it not only gave someone something to look at, but something to smell as well, letting their other senses join in. My outfit consisted of a short strappy black dress, clingy and figure hugging and black stilettos with a pink plastic square on the ankles. My outfit was simple, but flattering, I was all about simplicity. My hair had decided to be uncooperative today, so I straightened it till there was not a kink in sight and pinned back the front layers. Now I was ready, all I needed was to actually go out.

Sitting at a round table in the corner of Alexis, the newly opened night club style bar, Emmett raised his glass and toasted to me, encouraging the rest of the table to join in. 'I would just like to say, congratulations little sis! And good luck!' He cheered. The table chorused a repeat of his words and clanked glasses, as traditionally done when a toast is made.

'Thanks.' I chuckled, taking a sip of my vodka and coke. 'I think I'm going to need all the luck I can get.'

Rosalie shook her head at me. 'No, you'll be fine, just keep your head down and work your ass off, remind them why they hired you.' A new song started to play and Rosalie – completely aborting the conversation – grabbed Emmett's hand. 'Oh I love this song. Come on Emmett, dance with me.' And with that, my brother was dragged off to the dance floor by his soon to be wife, leaving me with Sam and Emily, Emmett's friend/work colleague and his girlfriend.

I didn't really know Sam and Emily very well. I knew that Sam had offered Emmett a share in the business at the garage and I also knew that Sam had taken a shine to Emmett, when he first moved from Forks to Seattle. As far as I could tell they were a nice enough couple. Just by looking at them, you could tell that they were madly in love. They were the sort of people you could see old and gray, sitting on a porch swing, grey haired, watching their grandchildren playing.

'So, have those two set a date yet? Emily asked, taking a sip of her white wine.

It was a shame with Emily. She was a very pretty woman. Her olive complexion and dainty features made heads turn when she walked by, but when she was younger, she was caught in a house fire and one half of her face is now permanently scarred, marred with angry red marks.

I shook my head and smiled at her. 'No. They plan on waiting a year before making the wedding arrangements; you know spend some time enjoying being engaged. But how long Rosalie will stick to that idea I don't know.' I chuckled.

Sam and Emily laughed too, knowing too well what Rosalie was like and how when she wanted something, she could get Emmett wrapped around her little finger.

'She is one of a kind, that girl.' Sam smirked.

'You can say that again Sam.' All three of us sat in silence for a second, thinking what to talk about next. That was the only thing with Sam and Emily. Whenever I was with them and a silence fell, I always felt the need to fill it. 'If you'll excuse me.' I said standing and smoothing the crinkles that had formed on the skirt of my dress. 'I'm just going to pop to the ladies.'

They waved me off and I pushed my way through the endless wall of human flesh, fighting my way to the ladies room. Just as I saw a break in the crowd, I darted forward, but it seems someone else had that idea and we both collided.

Strong arms snaked out and secured themselves on my shoulders, preventing me from hitting the floor. 'Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there.' A husky voice that sounded strangely familiar said, turning me around to face him.

'No, I'm sorry, that was completely-' I paused a second, the guy's voice running round my head. I knew that voice, I knew that voice well. I took a deep breath, willing the person not to be who I thought it was. 'Jake?' I asked hesitantly.

He started slightly at hearing me say his name, then his gaze zeroed in on my face and realisation flooded his features. 'Bella?' He sighed, kindness filling his gaze.

My heart immediately sank and all my old wounds reopened. Jake was basically the love of my life. Back until a few months ago, he had been the most important person in the world to me, the one person who I planned to spend the rest of my life with.

'Yeah, uh hiya.' I said, raising my hand and waving slightly. The stupidest thing I have ever done in his presence. I must have looked like a right idiot stood there waving at him when he was not even a foot away from me.

His stare shifted away from mine and his eyes awkwardly danced around, looking anywhere but directly at me. It was like I was the sun, ready to blind him if he made eye contact. 'Hey, I'm really sorry for bumping into you like that.'

I shook my head and chuckled. 'No, it was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going. You know what I'm like.' You know everything about me from what I like on my toast in the morning to how I have organized my underwear draw.

His soft laugh filled the gap between us, making me remember how I used to live to hear that quiet chuckle. 'Yes that I do.' There was a minute or so silence. Creating awkwardness on both sides. Jake shifted his weight between his feet. 'So you look good, are you good?'

I so badly wanted to say no, I wasn't good. I wouldn't be _good _until I had him back. But I couldn't bring myself to do that. After all, that would be selfish of me and I loved him too much to hold him back from what he wanted. At the end of the day, nothing had changed, I still didn't want to get married yet and have kids, and he did. He was at a place where I had yet to reach and it was cruel to make him wait just because I couldn't see my life happening without him. 'Um... yes, I'm good.' I lied, hoping my voice didn't sound too stiff and unrealistic. 'How about you?'

After a lot of time spent looking anywhere and everywhere but at me, Jake finally made eye contact. 'I'm great. Business is still thriving, but I'm sure Emmett fills you in on all that.' Jake worked with Emmett and Sam. Actually it was Emmett who introduced us, it was also Emmett who had to pick up the pieces of our shattered relationship, and from what Emmett said, he didn't just have to be there for me, Jake needed him there as well. 'How's work?'

Okay, this was starting to sound like twenty questions. Because we really didn't know what to say each other we had resorted to asking meaningless questions that neither of us really wanted to know the answer to, the only question either of us wanted answered was how the other one was coping without us, and if we were seeing someone else. 'Work is good.' _Bella seriously, what is it with overusing the word good, do you have no other words in your vocabulary? _'Great actually. I've just been offered a new job. Yeah, I'm going to work with an actor and write him an autobiography.'

Jake's eyebrows rose and a smile spread across his beautiful face. I thought it was amazing how when he smiled his whole face lit up, his rustic skin glowing and his dark eyes shimmered. Seeing him happy really was one of my all time favourite things. 'Really, that is fantastic. Anyone I've heard of?'

'Uh... Edward Cullen?'

His mouth dropped and a look of disbelief clouded his expression. 'Wow, well that's... wow.'

I chuckled lightly; he wouldn't think it was so 'wow' if he had ever met the guy. 'Yeah, I know.'

'There you are, I wondered where you had gotten to.' A soft melodic voice said from behind Jake.

Jake stepped aside and looked at me sheepishly. As he moved I saw the woman who the voice belonged to. She was fairly tall, long thin legs and soft curves. Her skin was like porcelain, reminding me of my own. She had shoulder length bronze ringlets, falling at the side of her face and she had light muddy brown eyes. She was 'wow' as Jake would put it. The woman stood next to Jake would give even Rosalie a run for her money.

'Yeah.' Jake smiled uncomfortably. 'I'm here.' Jake turned to me and gestured with his left hand to the woman with him, while running a hand nervously over his dark hair. 'Bella, I'd like you to meet Nessie... my date.'

My breathing stopped and I felt the colour drain from my face. His date, he was seeing other people. It shouldn't come as a shock to me as we had been broken up for the last three months, but I suppose part of me thought that Jake and I would always end up back together. Well, I guess that dream is completely tarnished now.

'It's er... nice to meet you Nessie.' I said shaking her hand.

'Bella right?' She asked hesitantly.

I smiled brightly but falsely, not wanting to show how much I wanted to go home and cry. Getting over Jake was one of the hardest things I had ever had to do, and truth be told, I still wasn't completely over him, and seeing him with someone else was like pouring salt into my wounds. 'Yep, that's me.'

She wrapped an arm around Jake and squeezed. I immediately wanted to snap that arm off and shove it somewhere unpleasant. 'So how do you and my Jakey know each other?'

Her Jakey? Her Jakey? That used to be my Jakey. My wonderful, perfect, loving boyfriend. And I had willingly given him up in favour of my career. What was wrong with me?

Jake ran a hand through his hair and sighed. 'Bella and I-'

'Are just old friends.' I interrupted. There was no point making the situation even more uncomfortable by going into our old relationship and break up and shit. I think we had all taken as much uncomfortable happenings as we could for one night. 'Um look, I've gotta go, big day tomorrow and everything.' I took a step away from the couple. 'So yeah, I guess I'll see you around.'

Jake nodded, understanding why I was suddenly making my exit. 'It was nice seeing you Bella.'

I continued to walk backwards. 'Yeah er.. You too Jake. Nice meeting you Nessa.'

'It's Nessie.' She corrected, slight annoyance colouring her tone.

'Sorry. _Nessie_.'

And then I disappeared. I ran away from my past, wanting nothing more than to embrace my future.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three –

I had ended up leaving my celebratory drinks gathering early, due to the buzz killing meeting with my ex. I had tried to withstand being in the same room as him and his new 'girlfriend' of sorts, but like the wimp I am, I couldn't take it. It was too much to deal with too soon in my opinion. So I made up some lame excuse to everybody, saying I had a headache and wanted to go home to bed, and made my leave. Rose knew something was going on, but she didn't question me in front of everyone, for which I was extremely grateful. However, I knew she would bring it up when we were alone.

The night passed uneventfully after that, leaving me in bed, wallowing in self pity, until I passed out from exhaustion. To say I was tired when my alarm started buzzing menacingly, would be an understatement, I was practically dead on my feet. But sleeping in for another half hour was definitely out of the question, if I was late on my first day I would never hear the end of it and I was too grouchy from sleep deprivation to be criticised or receive any snarky comments today.

Once I was up and about, I shuffled into the kitchen so I could get my morning fix of caffeine. There was nothing like a steaming hot mug of coffee to wake you up in the morning, and I had become some what of a caffeine junky in the last few years, loving the rush of its energizing ways as the warm liquid invades my body.

'So you ready for your big day?' A deep voice asked from the entrance of the kitchen, making me jump.

I swung round, holding my coffee mug at the ready to use as a defensive weapon. I hated it when people crept up on me, mainly because I wasn't the most observant of people. 'Emmett! Haven't you ever heard of knocking?' I scolded, glaring at my older brother.

Emmett backed away from me, holding his hands up in surrender, mock fear colouring his eyes vibrantly. Once I lowered the mug, he smirked and wondered back into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table and stealing one of the slices of toast I had just made. 'Haven't you ever heard of locking your door?'

I ignored his comment and went straight to the point. I didn't have time for all the chit chat; I needed to be ready for when Edward came to pick me up. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of me delaying him; I would never hear the end of it if I did. 'What are you doing here; don't you have a job to go to?'

Waiting until he had finished his mouthful – which is an extreme improvement by the way, he never used to do that until Rose came along – he answered me. 'I came to see if you were okay.'

I shrugged. 'Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be. If you are worrying because of this animosity between Edward and I, don't. I am more than capable of handling Edward Cullen.' This was true to an extent.

'I'm not on about Edward Cullen, Bella.' He paused, his eyes probing me for answers. He used to do this to me when we were kids. He's strike up a conversation, wanting to get something out of me at the end; usually it was when he wanted me to confess something. I looked at him innocently, honestly not knowing where he was going. 'I saw Jake after you left.'

I froze, my gaze immediately dropping to the floor. I was already not in the best of moods thanks to my lack of sleep, talking about Jake would make me even worse. 'Oh.' I feigned ignorance. 'How is he?'

'Bella, I know you spoke to him.' I shrunk back a bit. Emmett was doing what I didn't want. I didn't want to talk about it and open up. Because if I did, I didn't know how I'd be able to hold it together. To Jake I had opened myself up, and by doing so, I had given him the power to break me, and that is exactly what he did. To be fair the break up of our relationship was most definitely two sided, but still, I wasn't willing to go back there again. Thinking about Jake was painful enough, talking about it was excruciating.

I figured there was no point denying it to Emmett, he had obviously spoken to Jake, so the best thing to do was add an air of nonchalance, make it seem like it didn't bother me. 'Yeah, briefly. It was no big deal.' I said, clearing the kitchen table of all breakfast appliances.

'That's why you suddenly got a headache after?' He knew I was lying, that is why he kept on pushing me for answers. I had a tendency to close down when talking about topics I found particularly hard, and Emmett being an open book, found it hard to cope with me when I was like that and felt he had let me down until he had managed to break my reluctance to talk.

I sighed, looking him dead in the eye. 'Emmett, I need to be ready in forty minutes, and if you don't want to be late, I suggest you head to work.'

He grunted in frustration, throwing his arms in the air. 'Bella, don't do this, don't shut me out. I'm your brother, you can talk to me.'

'There is nothing to talk about.' I snapped, glaring at him. 'Jake is with _Nessie _now. She can give him things I can't.'

'Things you won't.' He corrected. I could see it in his eyes that he was pleased he was finally getting something out of me. And seeing my reaction to Jake's new girlfriend, gave him an insight as to what I was actually feeling.

'I never said no to him!' I cried. 'I said _not yet_!' I shook my head, my voice growing smaller at the pain of reliving the memory of his departure from my life. 'That wasn't enough for him. End of story. Now, I really need to get ready for work, I'll call you later okay?'

Emmett sighed irritably and started heading towards the door. 'Fine, but one day, you'll eventually talk to me.'

I watched as my brother left, and then I darted into my bedroom to pick out what I wanted to wear today. Emmett coming here and trying to talk to me about the whole Jake situation had put a huge downer on my day; I could only hope that as time progressed my day would start to look up again. The prospect of spending the entire day with Edward Cullen though, wasn't giving me a positive outlook.

Looking in the mirror, I couldn't help but feel a slight smugness towards my appearance. I had tried really hard to look the part for today, although all I would be doing was research, I still wanted to look smart. I have always thought that looking the part was crucial when trying to achieve something and this job was no exception.

I had pulled my long brown hair into a pony tail, secured high at the back of my head with a black elastic band. I had applied the minimum amount of make up, not wanting anyone to think I was trying too hard to make someone notice me. I had pasted a thin coat of foundation on my face and added a small dose of blusher and bronzer to give myself colour. The only other make up applied was a thin layer of mascara and a clear coat of lip gloss.

With my clothes I had yet again, opted for simplicity. I wore a black, short sleeved, knee length dress, with a white thick belt around my waist and shrug to keep my arms warm. I also wore a pair of three inch black stiletto heels, glossy, with a buckle at the ankle. My outfit was far from designer, or the in-fashion, but it looked good on me, and fulfilled its purpose.

Just as I was getting my bag, and packing my laptop in its carry case, the front door bell rang, telling me that my preparation time was up and it was now time to see what today had in store for me, twenty minutes later than originally had been planned.

I flung open the door and stared at the god like creature in front of me. 'Well, _you're late_.' I stated, standing hands on hips, glaring at the man stood before me, like any pissed off mother would.

He rolled his eyes and sighed. 'And you're short, are we done pointing out the obvious now?' His voice took on an exasperated tone, like he was already at his wits end with me. I had a feeling this was going to be one long, long day.

I gave him a quick once over, while he stood staring at me. He was wearing dark jeans, obviously designer, and a light blue short sleeved shirt with a black leather jacket over the top. He was reminding me of a biker for some reason, but he was way too much of a pretty boy to pull the illusion off.

'If roles were reversed, you'd be giving me hell right now.' I said, raising my eyebrows, daring him to challenge my assumption. The best way to go about today was to not show any weakness. If I showed him I meant business right from the start, maybe he wouldn't be too much of a hassle or drama queen.

He smirked and nodded. 'Yeah, I would. So why don't you prove you're the bigger person, and so much better than me.' He said dryly. 'And remain silent?'

Yeah, like he was going to get off that easy. I smiled brightly and made it seem like I was at least considering his request. 'Hmm...' I bit my lip and shook my head at him. 'Tempting, but no.'

He chuckled and the first genuine smile I had ever seen him make appeared, making his flawless face fill with even more beauty than usual. 'Thought that would be your answer.'

Wow, he knew me _so _well. I couldn't be bothered with the general bantering anymore that seemed to occur whenever he and I were in a conversation for longer than thirty seconds, so I tried to get back onto normal conversation.

'So why were you late?'

He sighed and ran a hand through his dishevelled hair. 'Because I had to mentally coax myself out of the car.'

I chuckled slightly, leaning on the door, swinging it open a bit more. 'I had no idea I scared you so much.'

He gave me one of those don't-flatter-yourself looks and crossed his arms over his muscled chest. My eyes lingered on his chest for a moment longer than they should have and I quickly shot my eyes back up to his. Although the guy irritated me almost to death, I couldn't help but feel a slight attraction to him. Well, actually, it was more than a slight attraction. I was attracted to him a lot. But it was only due to his looks and nothing else, and therefore I could ignore them quite well. Every time I felt this attraction present itself I just reminded myself of what a jerk he was. I didn't like the fact that I was captured by his hotness, but what can you say? He is gorgeous, even if he is a dick, and at the end of the day, I am a woman. I'm obviously not going to be completely oblivious to his charms.

'Not you, you don't scare me. It's your neighbourhood. I've never seen such a rough place, why do you live here? Are you a secret drug dealer or something?' Edward asked, letting his sarcasm mar his words at the end.

I glared at him, showing him I was not impressed at his attempt of humour. 'Your concern touches me.' I replied, matching his tone of sarcasm. 'But even with my.' I made quotation marks with my fingers. ''drug dealing', I can't afford to live anywhere else. We don't all make the money you do, and unless I want to live with my brother again, this is my only option.' I don't know why I told him all that, instead of just coming out with a short snippy response, but for some reason I had rambled longer than I had wanted.

His eyes softened as he looked at me. It was like, for the first time, he was seeing me as a person instead of an annoyance. I wasn't sure if it was pity or something else shining in his eyes, but I didn't have time to decipher, because before I even had time to blink, his green eyes hardened to stone and all connection was gone.

He cleared his throat and gestured outside. 'Shall we go?'

I grabbed my bags from behind the door and stepped outside. 'Suppose so.' I grumbled. No longer psyched for the new opportunity that had been presented to me, but dreading it.

He ushered me out of my apartment building and outside on the sidewalk. It was quite a nice day out. The sort of day I would love to be outside for. The sun was shining brightly, no clouds scarring the perfectly blue sky and to top that off, there was no breeze, so the day consisted of a warm, pleasant temperature. Taking notice of the beautiful day, I failed to notice where Edward was leading me to, and I still didn't see, until I was stood in front of his car.

'What the hell is that?' I asked, muffling a giggle.

He stared at me as if I was a few screws loose. 'It's my car.' He said, slowly, enunciating each word.

'It's a Volvo.' I laughed, pointing at the silver vehicle he was unlocking. Out of every car Edward Cullen could have, he chose to drive a silver Volvo.

'No shit Sherlock.' He replied. Looking deeply offended at the mocking of his car. It was funny, although there was nothing wrong with owning a Volvo – in fact, I quite liked Volvo's – I had never pictured Edward Cullen as a Volvo owner. It was too plain of a car for him. I had expected him to have something flash, like you see other actors and actresses driving around in. I stifled another round of giggles. 'Okay, what is wrong with my car?' He asked, clearly getting frustrated with my behaviour.

I composed myself, taking a deep breath. 'Nothing.' I answered honestly. 'It's just not something I expected you to drive.'

'It's discreet.' He said defensively.

'It's ordinary.'

'I'm ordinary.' He retorted. A frown creasing his pearl drop skin.

I snorted, earning myself a filthy look from him. The words 'if looks could kill' flowed through my mind. 'Sure you are, and I'm a skinny, six foot model.' I sarcastically replied.

He lowered to my level, so our eyes could connect. 'Exactly what are you trying to say Bella?' He growled menacingly.

Well Mr Big Bad Wolf... 'Nothing. I'm not trying to say anything. It's just, I thought you would have a car with a bit more 'Wow Factor''

Edwards's eyes narrowed into slits. 'In other words, you were stereotyping me. You though that just because of my income and status, that I would – like most other celebrities – buy loads of top of the range cars that I don't need. And drive around in a flash new model?'

My eyes widened in innocent and I shrugged. 'Well... yes.'

He exhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Just get in the damn car Bella.' He ordered.

We remained in silence throughout the whole of the trip. So many times I wanted to comment on his deadly driving. Even though it was before, it had yet again, become one hundred percent apparent that the crash was obviously not my fault. Being in his car was like being in death trap, each corner he took, or car he swerved past, I expected to be my last. Seriously, being in a car with Edward as the driver, was single headedly the scariest experience of my life. But, somehow I managed to keep my mouth shut and not criticize. I kept repeating the same words my dad used to say to Emmett and I when we used to be mean to each other, 'if you don't have something nice to say, then don't say anything'. I thought the best way to remain true to my internal word, was to lean back and shut my eyes, and will the journey to be over.

Once I felt the car come to a halt, I gingerly opened one eye. We were outside a towering block of apartments. They were clearly for the upper class citizens. The outside had an elderly looking stone exterior. Reminding me of some of the old country cottages you see in movies. Covering all of the higher building, were wall size windows, allowing tons of light in. If I sat at one of the windows for a full day, with weather like this, even I would probably come away sun tanned.

I turned to Edward who was laughing softly at my jaw-dropped expression. When I realised he was laughing at me, I immediately shut my mouth and composed myself.

'Let me guess.' I said, crossing my arms over my chest. 'Penthouse apartment?'

'Of course.' He replied. His eyes dropping from my face.

It took me a while to realise what he was so obviously staring at, until I followed his gaze. With my arms crossed beneath them, I realised I had accidentally brought my breasts to attention. Pushing them up, exposing a reasonable amount of cleavage.

I cleared my throat and glared at him. 'Do you want a picture?' Dry sarcasm cascading from my mouth.

He shook his head and looked at me patronizingly. 'No, a magnifying glass would be more appropriate.'

'Shame I cant say the same about your ego.' I snapped, hating the fact that I had given him such a reaction. But by the look on his face, my quick reply didn't bother him, he was still too pleased with himself over his earlier comment. His other insults, I could handle. It didn't bother me when he said them, because at the end of the day I gave him as good as he got. But I had always been self conscious about my looks. I wasn't what you would call curvy and I didn't have much in the boob department. Being friends with Rosalie had always made me feel inadequate with my appearance. Because, lets be honest, Rosalie was like a supermodel and I was... not. So I was used to feeling self conscious around her. But when by myself, that lack in confidence would take a backseat and I would be more upfront and proud of my looks. When someone like Edward says something like that to me though, my self confidence plummets and I wind up as confident as a nerdy teenager making a speech in front of the class.

I looked up at him, a smirk plastered across his face so prominently it looked like it would never disappear. However, when he registered my expression, the smirk dropped, his mouth relaxing into a thin straight line. I didn't realise I had portrayed the slight insecurity I felt, in my expression, that had showed him that he had hit a sore spot, but I obviously had, because suddenly his eyes clouded over and he actually seemed to be... apologetic.

'Bella, I'm-' He started, but I cut him off.

'Let's get this bullshit project out the way shall we? The faster we work, the faster I can get away from you.' I snapped, marching off into the building.

If I could only use one word to describe Edward's apartment, it would be 'incredible'. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. It made my own place look like a garden shed. It didn't have as many room as I thought it would, but it was every bit as big as it appeared from outside. The rooms were huge, hence why there wasn't as many of them. The place consisted of a state of the art kitchen, a modern, technically enhanced living room, a dining room, three bedrooms – one of them converted into a film and games room -, two bathrooms - with Jacuzzi bathtubs obviously – and an office where he had all of his awards, and where he and I would be working together regularly.

'Make yourself at home; I'll just go make us some drinks.' Edward said, still subdued from his bad behaviour earlier.

'How gracious of you.' I muttered sarcastically, picking up a picture of Edward and a small dark haired woman, with black pixie style hair and the same green eyes he possessed. Although there was a very limited resemblance between Edward and the mystery woman, I could tell that she was his sister, his younger sister I would guess. Even though Edward was no old man, the woman's eyes screamed youth and innocent, making me almost positive, she was to his junior.

'That's my sister Alice.' He said, coming up so close behind me that I could feel his warm breath on my neck.

I started and dropped the photo onto the white leather sofa which framed around the living room. I twirled around to face him. Our close proximity making me wants to move even closer to him and further away at the same time. My nose was practically grazing his chest and for some reason I had the mad urge to lean forward and kiss him I swallowed and tried to shimmy back a bit, but my ass hit the back of the sofa, making it impossible to move any further away.

'Yeah, I kinda figured that one out on my own.' I replied softly, edging my way around him, so I could take a step back.

'Really?' He raised an eyebrow at me, surprise colouring his voice and features. 'Most women I bring back here think she's my girlfriend or something.'

He motioned for me to take a seat and I did so. Perching on the edge of the sofa and crossing my legs at the ankles. The room was very tranquil and natural. It consisted of three colours, cream, beige and chocolate brown. Two walls were painted in cream and the other two were painted in beige. The room was pretty empty. The most dominant feature in the room was the creamy white sofa that I was now occupying. It travelled its way around the room. At the front of the room was a fifty inch flat screen TV. I had originally thought Edward would have a bigger one, but with a life like his, I suppose he doesn't really spend enough time in, so there is no point in getting a TV much bigger. There were stacks and stacks of DVD's lined up in clear glass mahogany draws and under the TV was a cream marble fireplace.

Edward picked up the photo from where I dropped it and looked at it. Dimples creasing his cheeks as his lips tugged up into a soft mile. 'We look nothing alike.' He continued, off in a world of his own.

'I'm not _most _women.' Oh my god, how cliché do I want to get? 'And I am definitely not like the women you associate yourself with, I mean, I own more than one brain cell.' He grunted at my comment but chose to say nothing. I pointed at the photo. 'You have the same eyes. They're too unusual for you to both have them as a coincidence.'

He chuckled softly. 'You're observant. No one else notices that.' It amazed me that for once he was being sincere and was not trying to get one up on me and belittle me.

This time it was my turn to chuckle. 'That is because, the only other women you bring up here are more interested in getting into your pants than getting to know you.' If I didn't have a brain, I would probably be one of those girls, I mentally added.

Edward shrugged, not denying the fact that most women he brought home just wanted him for sex. At the end of the day, that was probably all he was interested in with them as well. So if the feeling was mutual, why should it bother him. He wanted a quick lay and they wanted to be able to say they had fucked Edward Cullen. It was a win-win situation for both parties.

He walked over to me and sat down next to me. 'You want to get to know me?' He teased, twisting my words, trying to turn them so it sounded like I had a hidden agenda for working with him. He didn't take his eyes off of mine. 'Here's your drink.' He handed me a flute of lemonade. I thought it was a nice touch putting the drink in a flute. It made it seem sophisticated. Never thought I would ever describe something Edward Cullen did as sophisticated, but then again, I never thought a lot of things could happen, for instance, I never thought Rosalie would agree to marry my brother... if I've learnt anything being a journalist, it's that people surprise you.

I stared into his eyes, loosing myself in his voice. When meeting his stare it was like being hypnotized. Suddenly all thought went out of the window and all I could concentrate on was him. Him and what he was saying. He nudged the glass further into my hand and closed my fingers around it. It seemed in close proximity to him, like I was now, I would find it increasingly hard to function like a normal person. 'Oh er... thanks.' I said, breaking my gaze away from his and revelling in the feeling of conscious thoughts pouring back into my head. 'Where were we?'

'You said you wanted to get to know me.' He stated, taking a sip of his drink.

'No, you said I wanted to get to know you. I basically called you a man whore.' I said, turning the tables this time and making his words turn on him from earlier. Although sometimes our bantering could over step the mark, there was something refreshing about being able to say whatever I wanted and not being worried about it coming back a biting me on the ass. But I hadn't come here for fun and games, I had come here to work and that was exactly what I was going to do.

He sighed and leant back. 'I take it you want to get to work.'

I nodded. 'Yes, I think that would be wise.'

Edward clapped his hands against his thighs and rose. 'Follow me.' He commanded, beckoning me with his hand.

I followed him through the kitchen and dining room, to a smaller room at the very end of the house. The door was mahogany, and I could kind of see a pattern going on. It seemed Mr Cullen likes his mahogany. Once we were in the room, I realised that this was definitely the smallest and most down to earth room in the apartment. All it consisted of was two black, leather arm chairs, a mahogany coffee table, where I assumed my place, setting my laptop on the coffee table and booting it up. Edward sat in the arm chair next to me, neglecting the desk chair pushed under the – yes, again – mahogany desk which held his - no doubt state of the art - computer. The only other thing in the room was his cabinet, full of acting awards that he had won in the past.

'So, where do we start?' Edward asked eagerly, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

I got a word document up on my laptop and smiled at him. 'For starters? We talk.'

The excitement faded from his eyes slightly and he looked down at me. I think he expected me to click my fingers and suddenly produce a book. Yeah, like it really worked like that. But I suppose that is what he had always been accustomed to, and so he was used to getting what he wanted at a speedy pace. 'Talk? What about?'

'Everything.' I replied, rubbing my temples, already feeling an aggravated headache coming on. I had never met a man who could do that to me, send me mad in a matter of seconds. It was obvious Edward Cullen brought out the worst in me, and nothing was going to change that. So the best thing I could do was just keep my head down and work my ass off, just like Rosalie suggested.

'Like...' He prompted, looking at me as if I had grown a second head.

'First of all what you want this book to be mainly based on.' How was I supposed to write a book when I didn't know what his main focus was.

He frowned slightly. 'What I want this book to be based on?' He asked quietly. 'I want it to be based on myself.'

I sighed in exasperation, how I was meant to deal with him for the next six months or so, I had no idea. Seriously, they weren't paying me enough for this job. 'Yeah, that much I've got. But is it going to be mainly focused on your childhood? Fame? Love life?' Or should I say sex life because there was no doubt in my mind that there was no such thing as love when it came to Edward Cullen. 'Etcetera, etcetera.'

Edward straightened up in his chair and announced proudly. 'My fight to fame.'

Oh Jesus Christ. Lord help me now. 'I don't know why I bothered asking.' I admitted, typing what he had just told me onto my laptop. I had decided that I would record anything he told me concerning the book on my laptop, no matter how stupid it may seem. 'I should have known that would have been your answer.'

He snorted as if I had completely misunderstood him. 'You make me sound really egotistical.'

'That is because you are.' I stated, not bothering to sugar coat what I was telling him. He opened his mouth to protest, but I beat him to it. 'No don't reply. We need to focus on the book, not enter into another slanging match.' He shut his mouth but continued to glare. 'Right, so I think that there are four themes we need to surround the book in. We need to include... childhood.' I made quotation marks in the air with my fingers for the next one. 'Fight to fame, your past loves and problems.'

He had agreed to all of them apart from problems. 'I don't have problems, problems are for people who don't have the money to fix them. I don't want my fans to think I have problems.'

I exhaled noisily. This man was enough to make a saint curse. 'We need them to know that you yourself struggle in some parts of life because then the readers can relate to you.' I argued. It was like talking to a five year old, everything had to be explained precisely and delicately.

'I don't want to be seen as common.' Ah, so that was the problem. He didn't want to be seen as the same as everyone else. Well, tough. I was going to make sure that in this novel, people knew that Edward Cullen was in fact every bit as normal as everyone else.

'You won't be seen as common, but you will be seen as human.' What part of we need people to relate, did he not understand?

'Fine, we'll do it your way, but nothing too extreme.' He warned, taking a sip of his lemonade.

What he had said however intrigued me. 'Why, how extreme can you get?' I had a feeling I didn't want to know the answer, but something was pushing me to find out. For some reason the thought of all the extremities Edward had gone to, to fix his problems, made me curious.

He chuckled softly, shaking his head at memories. 'Little girl, you have no idea.'

Oh my, what the hell had I let myself in for?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four –

I had spent the whole day looking through Edwards's belongings – with his permission of course – trying to decipher what sort of a person he is. I needed to get inside his head because if I wanted to make the book believable, that it was written by him – even though my name was going to mentioned as the ghost writer – I needed to know him in and out.

Once I had told Edward what I wanted him to do towards the book, make a list of all the things he wanted to include, write down some trivial stuff that would be entertaining, photos he wants to add etcetera, etcetera, Edward left me to my own accord, letting me do pretty much what I wanted in the way of snooping. To be honest, I didn't find anything too exciting. There were no dead bodies in the closet or secret stash of porn hidden under the bed, really Edward was a lot more ordinary than I had anticipated.

The day passed quickly and uneventfully in all and before I knew it, I was sat in Edward's silver Volvo, parked outside my apartment block.

'Well, thanks for not being a complete jerk today.' I said, unbuckling my seatbelt.

'Right back at ya.' He smirked.

I nodded to him and climbed out the car. Today hadn't been the train wreck I had been expecting. But it was still nice to come home and forget all about him. To put it bluntly, I did not like Edward Cullen. He was an ass on so many levels and nothing was going to change that. But I did have a respect for him. I respected that he went after what he wanted with such a dedicated ferocity that he let nothing stand in his way.

I heard a door click open behind me as I got onto the sidewalk and turned to see Edward's door open, with him standing up, elbows balancing on the roof of the car. 'So what? Do you get writing now?' He asked, excitement making his sparkling eyes even more vibrant.

I laughed softly and shook my head. 'Nope. I need way more info on you before I can do that.' Aw bless his ignorance. He really did think that I could click my fingers and produce a best selling book in seconds.

'Seriously?'

I nodded. 'Seriously.'

He clucked his tongue on the roof of his mouth for a second, thinking hard, before finally speaking. 'Okay, how about we meet up sometime next week?'

Did he seriously think I could complete a book about him in six months if I had only one day a week with him to do my research? Oh he really was deluded. I wish I was as naive as him when it came to writing and the constant juggle of things you had to do before you could write a single word.

I shook my head at him and leant against the passenger side of the car. 'Edward, we are on a tight deadline. We have to see each other more than once a week.'

A smirk tilted his perfect lips into a smug smile. I could feel the air around us cloud with arrogance and I realised rather quickly that the arrogance was emanating from him. 'Bella, is this your subtle way asking me out on a date?'

My mouth dropped, practically hitting the litter soaked sidewalk. Why did he think every straight, red blooded female wanted him? Alright he was gorgeous, but not every woman wanted to wine and dine with him then bed him afterwards. It made me wonder who had boosted his ego so much that he thought every single person had an ulterior motive to spending some time with him. 'How the hell did you get that idea from what I've just said?'

He shrugged. 'Don't worry Bella, I don't blame you for wanting me, I'm a great catch.' A great catch? More like a great pain in my ass. The ego on this guy was astronomical, how he managed to fit his head through the front door every morning bewildered me.

I clenched my hands into fists and shoved them under my arms. 'You know what? I take back that thank you from earlier, because you are definitely being an arrogant jerk now. Just pick me up tomorrow morning.' I ordered, turning on my heel and heading for my apartment building.

'No can do.' He called after me, his voice echoing in the empty street. 'I have work.'

I didn't bother turning around, I didn't want to see anymore Edward Cullen today. I had had my daily dose and now it was time to recharge my patience ready for tomorrow. 'Excellent.' I replied, calling over my shoulder. 'I'll shadow you, get a feel of the real you.'

'Is that some sort of sexual comment?'

'Goodbye Edward!' I yelled, before disappearing into the safety of my home. Finally feeling my sanity secure with his presence gone.

I now knew why he didn't have a girlfriend. Surely he would drive any normal woman mad within the first half hour of her being with him. If I had to put up with him, I am sure I would throttle him within an hour. I think I'd rather spend life in jail, than spend life with him.

I unlocked the front door to my place and sighed in contentment at being in the sanctity of my own home. Like Edward had said when he arrived this morning, I did live in a rough area, but my apartment was nice enough, and as long as I locked my door when I was asleep and out, I never had a problem.

Throwing my bag down behind the doors and kicking my heels off to join it, I wondered into the kitchen, craving a much needed glass of wine. It had been a long day, and I deserved nothing more than to kick back, relax and have an ice cold alcoholic beverage.

After changing into some sweats and moving me and my glass of wine into the living room, where I set my laptop up so I could have a mooch on the internet, I finally began to feel myself unwind. I was in desperate need of some new speakers for my iPod and since I was getting such an increase in income from my new job, I thought now was as good a time as any to treat myself. I mean if I was going to have to put up with Edward Cullen, the least I could do is buy something nice with the money I was earning, in order to cheer myself up. So I went on my Amazon account and had a look through the long list of possible purchases. Once I had narrowed my options down to two, suddenly the phone started ringing insistently.

'Hello?' I answered, fixing the phone so it was balancing on my shoulder, my ear holding it in place.

'Hi... er... Bella Swan?' The vaguely familiar voice asked hesitantly, like he was nervous talking to me.

'Yes, this is she.' I replied, my eyes still fixed on my computer screen, still trying to determine which product to buy.

'Hiya, it's Mike.' There was a pause. I stopped fixating on my laptop and focussed on the person talking. Mike? I didn't know a Mike. Did I? The silence went on. 'Mike Newton?' He asked timidly.

Ah, yes, I remember you, I thought. He was Edwards's agent. 'Ah, yes Mr Newton. How nice to hear from you.' I said, although to be honest I wasn't really sure why he wanted me anyway.

'Please, call me Mike.' He said innocently. Why did professional people always drop their last names and ask to be referred to as their first. I thought it was so much more professional to have acquaintances refer to each other as Mr or Miss. Also it was rarer to find two last names the same than to find two first in the same place.

'Mike.' I nodded, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the first name basis we had adopted over the phone.

There was another silence. Neither of us knowing how to fill it. I wanted to ask him if there as any particular reason as to why he had called me, but I felt rude in doing so. I would just let him get out whatever he wanted to say.

'I just wanted to... know how today went.' He stated falsely, his lack of preparation or awareness as to what he was to say giving him away as not ringing for the particular reason he claimed.

'It went efficiently.' I answered. Although at the beginning and end Edward became a bit of a dick, the middle bit was fine, and we did get through the beginning of the plan. That was a positive I could mention so that it didn't appear that I was being unsociable 'We made good starting progress on the planning?' It sounded more like a question, and to be honest it was. It was me searching for a response to tell me that I was filling him in on what he wanted to be filled in on.

'Oh... well that's good.' He said chirpily.

Then, yet again, there was another uncomfortable silence. It was bad enough when these happened in person, but on the phone, you expect the ringer to know exactly what they want to say, so that these silences don't occur.

'Yeah, so... is there anything else you wanted?' I asked politely.

'No' He replied disgruntled, 'No, there is nothing- no wait a second, yes there is.' I wanted to scream in frustration, but instead settled for banging my head on the corner of the couch. Having this unsure conversation was like a slow death, painful and unwanted. 'Edward said that you are coming to visit the set with him tomorrow?' He inquired. Ah, so he had spoken to my darling Eddie boy? I wondered what the little rascal had said to him. That was probably the reason why he was calling.

'Is that where he is working tomorrow?' I asked, wanting to make sure that I was in fact either going or not before answering. I didn't know where Edward was working tomorrow, all I had arranged to do, was to go with him.

'Yes.'

'Then yes, I will be there.' I informed unenthusiastically. I think I would rather get a root canal than spend the day with a bunch of up themselves, air head actors.

'Well great, as shall I.' He declared excitedly. Well isn't that just peachy?

'I guess I'll see you there then.' I was trying to give a subtle hint that I wanted to end this cringe worthy chat, but I don't think he was getting the idea. I was tempted to put the phone down, but I couldn't be that rude, even though this phone call was slightly annoying, I wasn't going to be a bitch to him.

'Yes, yes you will.' Mike agreed. My subtle hint not making itself known as I had hoped.

Looks like I was going to have to spell it out to him. 'Well, I'm going to go now, so I'll see you tomorrow I guess.' My finger hovered over the end call button. Ready to terminate our chat as soon as he said the word.

'Yes, it's a date...er no, I didn't mean an actual date, I meant it is scheduled... I mean-' He stuttered, getting completely tongue tied and overwhelmed by his un-thought-out words.

'I know what you mean Mike, don't worry.' I said, listening to him was painful enough, I couldn't imagine what it was like to not only sound like a complete moron, but to be one as well.

'Okay Bella.' He said.

Then there was another silence. This was getting ridiculous. I had had enough of being polite and patient. I needed to get rid of him.

'Bye Mike.' And I ended the call, thank god. I hoped beyond hope that that was the last phone call of the night that I would have the misfortune of receiving. Unfortunately I was wrong.

The next call I received was from the very person I wanted a night free of. I had just settled into bed after watching some Sex and the City reruns. It was only ten o'clock, and although usually I was more of a night person, for some reason I was exhausted. It was normal for me to stay up till all hours in the morning writing ferociously to try and get an article finished. Early on in my career, when Victoria had just hired me, I found I wrote better at night, because when writing that late, I got a second wind and the words just seemed to pour out of me.

The second my head hit the pillow, the phone started to shrilly call to me. 'For god sake!' I snapped, throwing my covers off of me and making my way into the hallway where I had left my phone.

'Yep?' I sighed, not caring for the circumstance of the call, just wanting to climb back into my beckoning bed.

'Well hi to you too. Do you answer all phone calls like that?' A soft, but deep melodic voice asked, teasingly.

'What do you want Edward?' It just had to be him didn't it? It couldn't be Em or Rose or anyone. Nope, it had to be the one I really could do without talking to.

'I just wanted to hear that beautiful voice of yours.' He whispered huskily. Sarcasm colouring his tone almost unnoticeably.

'Bullshit.' I laughed humourlessly. '_What do you want Edward?' _I repeated, putting more force into my words, wanting him to get the fact that I was in no mood to talk.

He sighed, and for some reason I got the image of him running his hand through his dishevelled hair as he did so. 'I cant pick you up tomorrow.' He paused, probably waiting to see if I would react before or after her finished, I was opting for after though. 'Mike says he doesn't want you there at the set, he thinks you'll be too distracting.' Edward said solemnly.

It was at that moment I realised he was one hell of an actor, because if I hadn't spoken to Mike beforehand, I would not have known he was being untruthful. 'Really?'

'Yeah, I'm afraid so. Sorry.'

'Hmm, that's funny.' I bit my lip, trying not to laugh at the fact that for once I was able to play him at his own games and for once, I had the upper hand well and truly. 'Because he was on the phone to me not so long ago, stuttering over his words and gushing over how good it will be to see me tomorrow.'

Edward ignored the fact that he had been caught out, his attention snagged by the comments I had made about Mike. 'Really? He was gushing?' He asked.

'Seriously.' I nodded even though he couldn't see me.

'Wow, way to play it cool Mike.' He joked, a deep rumbling chuckle making its way along the phone line to me.

'I know right?' I giggled.

It was at that moment the weirdest thing happened. We both erupted into laughter together. And for once we weren't laughing at each other, we were laughing at something entirely different... but together.

After we had both laughed Mike's unimpressive flirtatious skills out of our systems, we settled down into a comfortable silence. Why was it that when a silence lapsed between Edward and I, I felt nothing but at ease, but with Mike, I felt really awkward.

'So yeah...' Edward started, his voice edging slightly. 'I cant take you tomorrow.'

I was so tired, I couldn't even be asked to argue with him, I just went for the direct question, not bothering with bickering games. 'Please enlighten me Edward, why are you unable to drive me?' I asked formally. I don't know why I suddenly went formally spoken, but I was too exhausted to even bother figuring it out.

'I'm giving a friend a lift.' A friend eh? Something told me that Edward Cullen would no more give his friends lifts to work in the morning than fly. He was covering something and I knew it.

'And since when are there only two seats in your car?' I inquired. He was trying to beat around the truth and by doing so he was digging himself a bigger and bigger hole.

He sighed. 'Cant you just drive yourself in and meet me there?'

I scoffed, did he seriously just ask me that? Like for real? It was like he had a memory of a goldfish, or shorter come to think of it. 'I would usually drive myself, but _somebody _fucked my car over and I need to take it in for repairs.'

He had no apology for my car and instead went straight for his next question. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was desperate to make my appearance unknown for that particular car ride, but why, I was going to have to find out. 'Cant you take a taxi?' He asked.

I growled, I actually growled. What self respecting woman ever does that? It is the most unwomanly noise to make, but it actually tore from my chest, igniting from my annoyance at this pointless conversation. 'Why are you so against taking me?' Then suddenly something clicked. 'This friend of yours? The one your giving a lift to? Is _she _one of your special friends?' There was a deadly silence on the other end of the line. 'As in the type of _friends _you invite on up to your apartment?'

'Yes.' He muttered ungraciously, annoyed that he had been sussed out.

I chuckled, this game was getting fun, trying to figure out why he was so insistent on having some alone time with this woman of his. His latest prey should I say? 'Hmm, so, I'm guessing, you haven't sealed the deal with her yet, since your so reluctant to share any time you have with her, and you don't want to take me because she'll either get pissed off that she doesn't have her alone time with you, or she will get completely the wrong idea, either way, I will have screwed everything up.'

There was a slight hesitance from the other end before he finally spoke up. 'Well... yeah.'

I was way, way too tired for this crap and my patience was dwindling. I was going to have to say bye to him before I completely lost my temper. For a twenty five year old, his maturity and common sense was so low a three year old could give him a run for his money. 'Pick me up tomorrow morning Edward, or I swear to god you'll regret it.' And I slammed the phone down and headed back to my welcoming cocoon of a bed.

By the time the following morning arrived I was in no better of a mood that the night before, after speaking to Edward. I hadn't slept all that well, and then at six this morning, I had had a phone call from Victoria, telling me that she wanted Edward and I to come and speak to her after he had finished filming for the day. I had found out from her that he was making a one off appearance in one of the most popular sitcoms at the moment, Chancellor. I had never personally liked it, but it followed shows like _friends _and _scrubs _in inviting celebrities to join them for one off episodes.

Giving myself a once over in the mirror, I smiled with satisfaction. Seeing as we were going to a filming set, I thought I would stick out too obviously if I wore my usual working attire, so I opted for casual and comfortable. I had decided to go with some navy three quarter length jeans, a white cloth belt, looped through the belt hoops, a strappy, vibrant red top, low cut enough so that the tops of my breasts were showing, but not low enough to say that I was trying to get someone's attention – which I wasn't – and to complete my outfit I had on some strappy heeled red sandals, making my short legs look longer than they really were and more shapely.

Although I was still merely mortal compared to the looks of Rosalie and women Edward associated himself with, this outfit gave me some confidence and made me feel like I might at least blend in slightly better with the women I will be around today.

Hearing a knock at the front door, I quickly sprayed my hair with hair spray to keep its new loose curl look secure and then headed to answer my caller. I flung the door open to find a very pissed off Edward. I had expected him to go off on one at me, about making him come all the way over here to pick me up, when he had a possible lay in the car, but as soon as his eyes swept over me his glare softened into a look of pure admiration. His eyes zoned in on every square centimetre of my body, taking in everything about my appearance today and with each extra second his eyes were transfixed on me, the look of admiration faded and was replaced with pure worship. It was weird seeing him look at me like that. Sure, it was different seeing him lust after other women, but me? This was a strange, not to mention a slightly embarrassing situation, and I was more that a little ashamed to admit that his appreciative stare flattered me. After a short while, I felt the warm sensation of a creeping blush slowly spread to cover my cheeks.

Thankfully after what seemed like the longest few seconds of my life, Edward coughed roughly and shook his head, trying to snap himself out of his unexpected daze. 'Er... hi... you look um...' He stuttered. I had never heard him tongue tied, nor had I ever expected to, he was way to sure of himself to be tripped by simple words, but it seemed today was not one of those days where he could access his surety.

'Hot?' I volunteered. Feeling the burning blush that had hijacked my pale colouring minutes ago die down, I felt the confidence to fall back into that easy banter that passes between us on a daily basis.

'I was going to say different, but hot works too.' He admitted, holding the door open for me as I walked through. 'So, what brought on this change in style?'

I smirked at him and sauntered off down the hallway, my heals clicking on the slate tiles, leading the way outside. It only took him a few paces before he had managed to catch up with me, but for some reason, today I felt like I was the one in control and that he would be chasing me a lot. 'I haven't changed my style, it's just that you've only seen me in my work clothes before now.'

'Mores the pity.' He muttered before we walked in silence towards the car.

Once we got outside and the Volvo was in sight, I saw a medium height, slender woman leaning against the bonnet of the car. She had long shapely legs that seemed to go on forever, exposed by a purple mini dress that left little to the imagination. He hair was cropped short, almost in a boyish fashion, shining in the sunlight as a mousy brown colour. It was no wonder Edward was attracted to this woman, her whole appearance screamed 'easy' and her whole attire spelt out 'one night stand'.

'Wow, she's classy.' I whispered to him, causing a breath taking smile to break out on his face and a slow chuckle to fall from his lips.

As we got closer, I could see her features a lot more clearly. Every detail in her face was sharp and pointed, for some reason the idea of a funny cartoon sketch jumped to mind. However, when she leant forward to push herself away from the car, the reason Edward wanted to bed her so badly became painfully noticeable. The size of her breasts were shocking. Just looking at them gave me back ache so god knows what she felt having to lug them round all day. As soon as I set eyes on them I knew that they were surgically enhanced, they had the fake, balloon under the skin look that lots of celebs have when they have implants. I personally thought they looked vulgar, but I suppose it's whatever floats her boat right? And Edward obviously loved them, otherwise he wouldn't bother trying to make her his newest conquest.

'Lauren, this is Bella.' Edward said as we came to a stop in front of the woman. At close inspection, I knew that I recognised her, she was a regular in Chancellor, no wonder Edward wanted her, because by the time he was finished filming he could go and never have to bother her again. It was something she wanted as well, to say that she had bedded one of the most wanted and hyped up actors of this decade. Edward gestured towards me with his hand while looking at his conquest. 'Bella this is-'

'She should know who I am already.' Lauren snapped, running her hands through her spiked up hair.

Edward looked at me apologetically. I don't know why he gave me that look, I mean a few days ago, he expected me to be grovelling on my knees because it was him who had smashed into my car, even though it was his fault. People like these two rely on their status' to get them out of things and with me that just doesn't wash.

'You're Lauren Mallory.' I stated boredom at dealing with her colouring my tone within seconds of talking to her.

A smug smile crept onto her botox inflamed mouth and she looked at me as if she thought she were a goddess. 'I take it you watch my show?' I noticed how she said 'my show' even though she wasn't really a main part, yes she was a regular, but she was pretty much the _Gunther _in _friends. _She was there to cause entertainment, but she only had a couple lines every few shows.

I smiled back at her, not being able to wait to see the look on her face as to why I really remembered her. 'No, I just remember you being the one on the news, who got placed under a restraining order by ... was it six different film actors?'

She glared at me and took a step forward, I think it was to try and intimidate me, but even though I had not reason to feel so, with Edward stood next to me, I felt safe, I knew he wouldn't let her touch me, even if it did mean him loosing his bit of no strings attached sex.

I heard him try and disguise his laugh with a cough, but he failed miserably, earning himself a death glare from the man-eater stood before us. 'Shall we go?' He asked politely, his voice teetering on the edge of a chuckle.

'Bella, you're in the back seat.' Lauren snapped, flinging her designer hand bag over her shoulder and walking round to the passenger side of the car.

'Don't worry Lauren; I've become quite accustomed to the back seat of this car.' I turned to look at Edward and winked. 'Haven't I Edward?' I asked in my most sexy voice.

That was when the unexpected happened. I had been more than prepared to get a glare or a snide comment from Edward for trying to jeopardize his chance with Lauren, because that is what he had been afraid of from the beginning but instead of him giving me any warning to back off, he smirked at me and winked back. What the hell was that? Was he playing along with my game because he thought I was jealous of some other girl having him, or was he playing along because he liked the thought of people thinking we had hooked up? The one thing I was certain of was that I wasn't trying to prevent him from getting laid, I didn't care about that. I just wanted to piss Lauren off because of her bitchy ways. I had taken an instant dislike to the woman, and I couldn't help but get under her skin and make her think that a nobody like me had already had a round of what she wanted.

I climbed into the back of the car and seat belted myself in, mentally preparing myself for the death ride I was about to take, because not only did I have a chance of dying because of Edward's driving, but I also had a chance of suffocating because of the stench of Laurens sickly sweet perfume that was assaulting my senses by being contained in the frame work of the car.

Just before Edward turned the key in the ignition, I leant forward and whispered in his ear. 'I can fell my brain cells dying from the toxic stench your lady friend over there seems to be sweating out. What does she do? Bathe in syrup?'

Edward laughed quietly and shook his head at my comment, before shooting off towards our destination. As we proceeded on our journey, the car was filled with a deep silence. I didn't know what to say because I didn't particularly want to talk to Lauren. Edward didn't say a word because I'm guessing he didn't have anything he wanted to voice and Lauren didn't say anything because she was too busy trying to cop a feel of Edward's prized possession.

Although usually I would have found this situation embarrassing, I couldn't help but be entertained by the show the two of them was putting on, especially on Lauren's part. Every few minutes, she'd place a hand on Edward's inner thigh and slowly trail her hand further and further up until she was nearing his crown jewels. And every time she'd get a little too close for comfort, Edward would rebuke her and move her hand back over to her own lap, earning him a grumble from an obviously sexually frustrated Lauren.

The strange thing was, as this continued attempt carried on, Edward kept steeling glances in the top mirror and making eye contact with me, probing me softly with his eyes, and asking me endless unanswered and unreadable questions. His stare was electrifying to me, and each time I felt his gaze warming my skin, I would feel the hairs on my arms stand up and I would look away coyly. What was going on between us today?

Finally, after realizing she wasn't going to be getting anywhere with Edward at that moment, Lauren huffed and crossed her arms, sending him a warning glance that they would finish what they started later and I had no doubt that she meant it, or that she was going to get her way.

One thing however was for sure, considering the lack of communication through verbal interaction, this car ride was the most eventful I had been in for a long time.

**I just want to say a quick thanks to everyone who reads the story and has added me to their favourites or alerts list. So yeah, thanks. **

**So, here is chapter four, please review and let me know what you think x**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five –

Once Edward parked, Lauren threw her door open and jumped out of the car, shooting round to Edward's side and when Edward had managed to climb out himself, she looped her arm through his in a vice tight grip and dragged him off towards the building entrance.

Stood on the side walk, I watched as Edward tried to resist the pushiness of his companion, and he came to an abrupt stop, yanking his arm free and turning to look back for me. Our eyes met and I gave him a small smile.

'You go on.' I called to him. 'I'll have a look around then meet you after you've filmed okay?' Two questions shone in my head. First of all, since when did he care if I was okay being left on my own? And why did I feel a sense of loss at his lack of presence?

It didn't matter; I shook it off and headed inside. It was strange being on set for a TV show, I had never been on one before, and seeing a number of different half rooms positioned throughout the building surrounded by numerous camera's was kind of surreal. I wondered around for about an hour, I didn't want to watch Edward because I didn't want to be labelled as a distraction and also, I wanted to avoid spending anytime with Mike Newton, especially if he was going to behave like a blithering moron around me, so I aimlessly wondered around every square inch of the building, taking in the atmosphere and new feelings. Unfortunately, I forgot where I had come from and ended up completely confused and devoid of any directional remembrance.

'You look lost.' A deep heavily accented voice stated from behind me.

I swung around to see who the person talking to me was, and was greeted by a guy, about the size of Emmett with dark hair and a crafty smile. His eyes were trained on me like a hawk. He looked friendly enough.

'No, not lost.' I corrected, smiling back at him. He was quite handsome to look at, he had pale, almost translucent looking skin and deep dark grey eyes, that shimmered in the dimmed studio lighting. I didn't want to admit to this handsome stranger that I was lost; I didn't want to seem like a damsel in distress incapable of looking after ones self. I also knew he wasn't really a stranger, I hadn't met him before, but I knew who he was, he was one of the main characters in the show, and he was Felix... something, I wracked my brain but I couldn't remember his last name. 'Just overwhelmed.' I said, motioning to everything with my hands.

He chuckled softly to himself. 'I take it this is you're first time on a filming set?' his chuckle was extremely deep, the sound and vibration reverberating around the close space between us and shaking its way through my chest.

I bit my lip and shrugged. 'Is it that obvious?' I asked self consciously. I had wanted to appear like a natural here, like I was exactly where I belonged. Guess that went straight out of the window, just like me spending the day with Edward did. Thinking of Edward, I scanned the surrounding area for any sign of him, but he was no where to be seen. I guess he was with Lauren, screwing her brains out probably.

'Nah.' He scoffed, a bright smile lightening up his face and taking over most of his features. 'Only to us oldies.' He extended his hand. 'I'm Felix by the way.'

I placed my small hand in his large grasp. 'Bella.'

I don't know why, but there was something about Felix that I really liked. He had an easy going attitude as far as I could see, much the same as Emmett and also, he was kind of cute. He had a rugged look to him, but also kind of a baby faced appearance as well.

'So Bella, are you a new extra or something?' He motioned with his head towards the cameras and I scoffed.

Me, on TV? Acting? That was a funny concept to think of. 'No.' I replied. 'I'm just here to watch a...' I stumbled over the next part. I had wanted to say friend, but could I really call Edward Cullen a friend? I mean today was the first time that I have ever actually liked him, and that was because of him flattering me with his comment on my look obviously, nothing else. 'Work colleague?' I shrugged off my hesitance and continued. 'I'm a writer.'

He nodded and with a completely sincere face said. 'I should have known, if you were an actress you would be more than an extra, with looks like yours you would have been snapped up years ago.' I felt a blush creep up my neck and flood my cheeks. It was a cheesy line, but instead of making me want to puke, it did the opposite, it made my skin tingle and flattery filled my body.

'Bella, I've been looking for you everywhere!' Edwards booming velvety voice called, as he intruded on a very weird moment between Felix and I. Was Felix hitting on me, and I was missing all the signs? Or was he just being friendly and welcoming, sensing that I wasn't at ease in this foreign like place. I turned to look at Edward; he was striding towards us with an unreadable expression on his face. Once he saw Felix and me standing cosily together his warm green liquid eyes turned to stone. 'What's this?' He asked, looking back and forth between me and my new friend.

I gestured with my hand towards Felix. 'Edward this is Felix.'

'Yeah, I know who he is.' Edward retorted dryly, eyeing Felix up very carefully. There was some sort of animosity hanging in the air, marking the two men. There was something between them. What? I am not sure, but I felt like I was missing out on knowing something. Making a silent exchange, communicating only through eye contact, I could feel Felix tense up next to me. Edward cleared his throat and placed his hand on my shoulder. It was the first time he had made proper skin on skin contact with me, and an electric shock shook powerfully through me, all my nerves standing excitedly on end. 'Bella I'm kinda thirsty, can you go get me a bottle of water?' He asked sweetly, never taking his eyes off of Felix. And with that simple question, all lust for him vanished and I wanted to yell at him.

I cursed myself for getting carried away in the thrill of his touch and quicker than I thought my brain possible to function, the shutters came down in my mind and suddenly all friendliness and relaxation disappeared, and all need to be blocked from any harmful treatment or comments was pushed in for replacement. I chuckled softly, but as soon as I felt his gaze heating up my face, I abruptly stopped. The fact that for the first part of this morning I had been able to neglect to remember that he was in fact an asshole - an asshole who treated me and everybody else who was below his status wise, like shit – was astounding to me, I never dropped my guard, that just wasn't the sort of person I was. I always had some defence mechanism set up in my head, but with him, he had been able to disable my self protection, and in that action alone, made me realise what a dangerous person he was to me, because some how, he had the ability to make me relax around him, and that was most definitely what I never wanted to do. With him, I always wanted to be aware.

I folded my arms over my chest and glared at him menacingly. 'You want something to drink, go get it yourself.'

'Bella.' He warned, finally breaking gaze with Felix and looking at me evenly. I couldn't read his eyes, I hated the fact that I couldn't read what he wanted me to get. He was telling me something, searching for some recognition from me; that I understood. I didn't have a clue.

I shook my head at him, daring him to order me around again. 'I'm not your slave. I'm not even your PA; go get your own damn drink.' I snapped.

Felix smirked at me, obviously liking it when women disobeyed Edward and he gave me a private wink. Edward of course saw and sent Felix a death glare.

'I need to talk to Felix. Can you please go and get me a bottle of water?' He repeated, a politeness clouding his tone more than the last time he asked me. 'Please?' He asked again, a small smile, tilting up the corners of his mouth.

'Don't think that because I've done it this once, that I'll do it again.' I warned, turning on my heel and walking towards the buffet table that provided all staff with refreshments.

I was fuming, what made him think that he could belittle me in front of someone like that? He was so demeaning. And I had thought earlier that we had hit some sort of turning point, neither of us ripping shreds out of each other, finally finding some common ground where we could stand together harmoniously.

I snatched him a bottle of water off the table. There was a mini fridge containing the bottles as well, but most people prefer their water chilled, but I figured he wasn't worth the extra foot of walking.

When I got back to the two men, they were stood, adopting a sort of lion's stance, like they were prepared to fight for the role as alpha. Seriously, what was the deal between them? Whatever it was couldn't be that bad surely.

'ereHGHHere's your water.' I said, forcefully shoving into Edward's side. 'It's room temperature.'

He grunted at the impact of the glass bottle making contact with his ribs, but he chose to remain tight lipped, it was apparent that today he held no death wish, because if he had chosen to comment on anything else I had done today I would have seriously killed him; painfully and slowly.

'Just how I like it.' He muttered before taking it from me. 'Thank you, Bella.'

I turned to Felix who was eyeing me suggestively. 'I'm sorry, where were we before we were so _rudely _interrupted?'

'We were just-' He started, but you-know-who cut him off so _rudely _again.

'Bella, I'm about done now, I think we better leave; we need to get some work done.' Edward said sincerely. He was acting so truthful and sincere, but I didn't believe him, I didn't fall for all his actor bullshit. He wanted to get me away for some reason, but he wasn't going to bully or order me out of the place.

'Are you finished filming already?' I asked. Surely it would take longer than an hour and a half to film for this episode.

'Yeah, I was only in one scene, so I think it is time for us to go.' He replied, twirling me around and pushing my to the exit. I however ignored his literal pushiness and dug my heels into the ground, if he thought he could make me disappear that easily he had another thing coming.

As much as I hated to admit it, Edward was right, we did have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it in, so although, yes we did need to leave, he didn't have to let me know in a way that suggested he had control over me, because that wasn't further from the case.

I sighed and shrugged, giving him a look that told him we would talk about this later. 'I'm sorry for Edwards's attitude Felix, but he is right, we do need to go.' I extended my hand towards him. 'It was nice meeting you though.'

Felix smirked, and gently stroked his knuckles along my cheek. 'It was a pleasure to meet you too Bella and I severely hope this isn't the last time we meet. Do you think I could have your number?'

I started a second, trying to process what he had just asked. Had he seriously just asked me out? I was taken aback by his forwardness, I wasn't used to that sort of attention, and it seems my clothing choice for today was attracting a whole load of unexpected attention. Sensing Edward tense up next to me, I smiled at Felix and fished in my bag for my business card.

'There you go.' I said, handing it to him. 'Give me a call whenever you like.'

Felix smiled widely at me, revealing his perfectly straight white teeth. 'I'll be sure to do that.'

Once we were in the car, we remained in silence until we were out of eyeshot from the set. Edward was still tense and agitated, and for what reason, I was still none the wiser, but I was going to wait until he spoke to me, I wasn't going to inquire and make it seem like I was interested, even though admittedly I was.

After what felt like years and years of unspoken torture, Edward finally broke the quiet.

'You know he isn't going to call right? That was all a show, hitting on you. He wants to get to me.' Edward said, surely, his voice forceful, putting all his effort into making me believe.

I scoffed and shook my head. Felix seemed pretty sincere when he asked for my number and when participating in our earlier chat, so I wasn't buying the bullshit Edward was spewing. 'And how did you come to that conclusion?'

'It's obvious.'

All it took were those few words, those few words to send my temper over the edge and spiralling towards seething. Why was it that in his eyes I couldn't hold any admirers? He had made it abundantly clear that he thought I held little to be desired – marking this morning's anomalous conversation as discounted - so why should he get this riled when someone shows the slightest inkling of an attraction towards me?

'Why do you think that it is _so _obvious? Because you believe that the idea of someone even finding me slightly attractive is so preposterous? Because of course, no one normal could find me interesting or attractive, so I especially wouldn't be able to bag myself someone like Felix!' I exclaimed, stormily looking out my passenger window, feeling like a teenager getting scolded by her father after he picks her up from the police station, following a night of endless drinking.

Edward slowed down and turned to look at me, sympathy playing over his features as subtly as a drag queens make up. 'Bella.' He started, his voice softening. 'That isn't what I am saying.'

'That is exactly what you are saying!' I shouted, my voice appearing louder as it bounced around the compacted area. I cracked my knuckles and looked out of the windshield, suddenly all confidence draining out of me, leaving me drowning in this confrontational hell, unintentionally enveloping me in complete and utter abandonment. 'I may not be as thin as most people you associate with, or maybe not as tall, or as pretty, as feminine, but I'm a good person, a decent catch. I'm not ugly! I may not be flawlessly beautiful, but I'm attractive, I'm petite, I've got a good figure, it is not impossible to find me attractive. Its not impossible to like me, it's not impossible to fancy me, I'm not impossible to fall in love with.'

I'm not entirely sure how love made itself apparent in the conversation, but the insecurities I was now feeling related back you how I felt when Jake left me, and for some reason unbeknown to me also, I felt the need to note my good qualities to Edward and make him see me as more than just a bad tempered writer. I needed him to take notice that I was a woman, and that I did have some good things going on.

'Bella I-'

'Pull over.' I ordered, ignoring his blatant attempt at an apology, it was bad enough sitting here, isolated from the outside world, and getting berated so my self loathing hit an all time high, I couldn't sit here and let him see that he had gotten to me with his mindless insults. I couldn't let him see me falter to him, I wouldn't lose face. Not now anyway.

'What?' He asked, ignoring my order and continuing to speed ahead, breaking all speeding laws in the process.

'I said pull the fucking car over!' There was an unanswerable silence, like he was waiting for more information. 'I'm getting out.'

He snorted and chose to ignore my command, like I was a child ordering a highly pissed off parent about. 'I don't think so.'

'Either pull over, or I'm opening this door whether you're driving or not.' I warned. Usually I would be bluffing, and if he chose to test me on it, I would back down undoubtedly. But this time? I was deadly serious. He brought out an incontrollable thirst in me, gasping for control, and if scaring the shit out of him by throwing the door open mid-drive, was what it was going to take to put me figuratively back into the drivers seat in this heated discussion, then that is damn well what I was going to do.

He shot a disbelieving glance at me, oh he of little faith, so I did what had to be done, and I opened the door. I wasn't stupid enough to fling it open, and obliviously ignore on coming traffic, but he called what he thought was my bluff only to discover it was nothing but truth.

As I opened the car door a crack, I watched with bittersweet amusement as Edward's flailing arm shot across my body, fastening a firm hand onto the handle, and yanking it back till it made a satisfying click, signalling closure.

'Jesus Bella, what the fuck?' He yelled, swerving slightly through lack of concentration on what lay ahead of him.

'I warned you, you chose not to listen, so don't blame that on me. Now let me out the damn car or do we need a re-performance of what just happened?'

I knew I was acting childishly, being the grown up I was, and I should have taken the moral high ground and forgotten our fight and just laughed off his obvious lack of knowledge when it comes to me and my desirability with the remainder of the male population. Before I could even fractionally move to fulfil my threat again, I heard a clicking echo throughout the car as he set the automatic locking, preventing me from doing anymore stupid actions.

'Look, I'm sorry for what I said; you completely misinterpreted what I meant.' Edward said, not looking at me and for once keeping his eyes glued to the road.

'No. I didn't misinterpret anything. What you said was meant to mean exactly what I took it as, and now you can't deal with the repercussions so you're trying to weasel your way out. Now pull the damn car over. I don't want to be near you, never mind spend the rest of the day with you!' I shouted, my cool so far gone it was probably in Canada or something. What was it about him that sent my cool and collected attitude and exterior completely out of the window? When with him I was almost unrecognisable, all my good qualities faded away and my sinister side entered.

Edward sighed and turned onto another road, a much quieter street. 'You're not really going to get out the car, you are miles away from home. You're not going to walk it.'

Once he unlocked the doors, I flung the door open and bounced out the car, slamming the door firmly and marching away from my own person version of hell. Shortly after my departure I heard the soft purring of the Volvo's engine coming to life and slowly prowling along the sidewalk next to me in a stalker-like fashion. A few seconds later the insistent buzz of a window rolling down, matching the unmistakable sound of swarming bees joined in with the gentle humming of the car engine.

'Bella, where are you going?'

'I'm going to get a drink.' I snapped, heading for the bar that was taunting me, beckoning for my presence, staring at me from across the street. At seeing the bar an alcohol craving suddenly erupted in me and I felt like I needed a stiff drink to wash away the memory of today's disastrous events.

As soon as those words left my lips, I heard Edward sigh in annoyance, and watched in relief as he pulled away from the curb and drove off down the road. Finally, release. I had time to think.

Once I was settled in a booth, in the corner of the room, away from all the ruckus and hustle in the background, I took a long, glorious gulp of my vodka on the rocks. I didn't usually drink it straight, but today called for something stronger than my usual beverage. My throat seared as I swallowed the substance and for once I enjoyed the burning feeling, knowing that it was cushioning my extreme emotions.

I had some serious thinking to do now. When I had been offered the chance to write the autobiography, I had been completely thrilled, it was something I could have recognition for, it would look great on my resume and it would show dedication, seeing my commitment to write a full ninety thousand word or more book. But now? I wasn't so sure. I had originally thought I could handle pretty much anything, I had even been naive enough to think I could handle Edward Cullen, but that obviously wasn't the case. I didn't want to give up, my parents didn't raise me to be a quitter, but if I had been driven to drink at this measly hour, maybe that was a sign that working for Edward Cullen wasn't for me.

'Mind if I join you?' An annoyingly unwelcome voice asked.

'Yes.' I snarled, not looking up to meet his eyes in case I was hypnotised by their dazzling powers. Out of the corner of my eye I watched as he pulled out a chair to the side of me and sat down in it. 'I mean yes I do mind, I don't want you anywhere near me.' I finally looked at him and glared with as much power as I possible could. It looked like I would have to spell it out that I was in no way in need of his presence and my preference was to have him gone.

He ignored my hostility towards him and carried on as if I was in a normal, cheerful mood and we weren't in the middle of a very strong misunderstanding. 'You got your wires crossed earlier.' He stated, propping his elbows up on the edge of the table and folding his fingers together.

I smirked at him petulantly. 'And you're an ass.'

He sighed like a tired parent, patronizingly, and gave me a withering look, like I was the one who was patience trying instead of the other way around. 'Was there really any need for that?'

I stared at him disbelievingly, my eyebrows crinkling together in confusion. Did he really think he had done nothing wrong in order to make me act like this towards him. I don't know where he was coming from, but when someone was being a dick towards you, you have a right to be a bitch back, or that is how it kind of works for me in my little world. 'Er yeah.' I stated the obvious.

He raised an eyebrow at me. 'Are you going to let me explain?' He asked patiently, eyeing me evenly.

'Do I even have a choice?' I sighed, taking another sip of my drink, the numbing substance no longer easing the memories of the day, but that could be because the problem was sat next to me, smirking at me teasingly, letting me know the answer the my question. 'Yeah, I didn't think so.'

He chuckled, low enough so that I knew he wasn't laughing at me – for once – but laughing at my reluctance to accept that he got his way everyday whether I liked it or not.

'I didn't mean you any offense.' He said to me formally. Like he was making a polite statement in a news interview, instead of fighting his case to me.

I picked up my drink and with the same hand pointed at him accusingly. 'That is exactly what people say when they are going to be offensive and don't want to get in any shit for it.'

He growled quietly and pinched the bridge of his nose. Anyone would think I was the annoying pain in the ass instead of the other way around. 'Well then, if that is what you think, I will state now, that it wasn't my intension to offend you.'

'Bullshit.' I exclaimed, slamming my glass on the table so violently I was surprise it didn't splinter and smash.

'Are you going to shut up and let me speak?' He snapped, finally arriving at the end of the short thread his patience existed on.

'Depends.' I replied nonchalantly, shrugging indecisively. 'Am I going to hear something I don't want to hear?'

'Shut up and you'll find out.' He hissed menacingly through gritted teeth.

I leant forward so that I was leaning half way across the table. 'Fine, I'll keep quiet, but if you ever, and I mean _ever _tell me to shut up again, I swear to god, you won't know what has hit you.'

He gave me one of his disbelieving looks, revelling in the fact that theoretically, because of his status, no one could touch him, no matter how much they threatened. What he was underestimating was my willpower. If I ever wanted him to pay, that was exactly what I was going to do.

After an awkward silence, filled with tension, his male pride powered by testosterone and my dedication to not let myself be belittled, especially not by the likes of him, Edward finally spoke. 'When I said it was obvious Felix didn't like you, it wasn't because you lack attractiveness. Because believe me' His eyes swept over me seductively. 'You don't.' I felt a blush creep up into my cheeks, but I refused to hide my face because of it. 'Felix and I go way back. We used to be friends, our parents were close. But when we both went into acting, there was a lot of animosity between us. Felix landed a job on daytime television, as a regular, when really he wanted to work in films like I do, and be known world wide. I however achieved that dream, and well, he never handled that well. With Felix, he doesn't act for the love of acting, for the thrill of being someone else and telling their story. He acts because it gets him laid and gets him money, his two favourite things in the world.'

I nodded at him to continue, and true to my word, I kept quiet, too intrigued by his story to let any words fall from my lips.

'Now, it is like a competition between us, well for him it is. He wants everything I have, and he does everything he can to get it. He saw you there with me today, now he wants you. I can guarantee he will call in the next few days and ask to pick you up for some lunchtime coffee or something, and I tell you now, he will do it when you're round mine, working on the book, just so I know he has you.'

I smirked at him and shrugged. 'You're missing one thing though, I'm not yours, nor have I ever been _yours._'

'In certain aspects you are though, aren't you?'

Was I? I suppose in ways, I was. I was his writer, his colleague of sorts. So yes, I was his, but was he telling the truth about Felix? He could just be scared I would leak all of his dirty little secrets to his rival. But if he thought that of me, I was more offended than when we were in the car earlier.

'Look Edward, if you are scared I will leak all your secrets, then don't be. I signed a contract didn't I? And plus, I would never be so bitchy and insensitive towards others, even you, as hard as it is to believe.' I said, not sure whether to be annoyed if he thought that or understanding towards his reluctance to believe I would keep his life quiet.

'Bella, I know you would never do that, even though we have our differences, I know you would never be so devious, it isn't in your nature.' He patted me on the head patronizingly, like he was rewarding a dog. I glared at him levelly and he retracted his hand as fast as he had placed it there.

'You know.' I mused, trying to defend myself and my want-ability just to give myself a much needed ego boost. 'This could just be your ego talking, with the whole egotistical battle between you and Felix, you know, living out the whole alpha male fight thing, like in the wild. But maybe there is nothing crafty or devious about it, maybe Felix just found me charming and would like to have my company.'

'Not likely.' Edward snorted, a look of disbelief colouring his features.

My eyes narrowed and I shot murderous daggers at him. What is it with him and unnoticeably insulting me... well unnoticeably to him anyway? I opened my mouth to defend my credibility again, but he stopped me with a slash of his hand before I could even utter a word. 'At the risk of getting into another fight, let's just end this conversation here and enjoy a nice quiet drink before we get back to work.' He snatched my glass and downed the remaining vodka. 'Just remember, Felix only wants you because I want you.'

I smirked at him. 'You want me?'

He started slightly, and suddenly his cool and composed exterior disappeared and a stuttering teenage attitude replaced it. 'No... I mean, yeah... for the... you know, book. You are a very talented...' He stammered, then eventually shrugged and gave up. 'You know what I mean.'

'Yeah.' I smiled, loving the fact that I was finally seeing the human Edward Cullen, who had flaws just like the rest of us. 'You want me. I understand. Who doesn't?' I let a bit of cocky bantering enter the conversation, enjoying the fact that I had just witnessed him make a huge error in conversation.

With satisfaction, I realised, for once I had the upper hand. He needed me a lot more than I needed him, so maybe now; he was going to be willing to give me the respect I deserve instead of treating me like he would a nobody.

**Please Review and let me know what you think. Hope you like the fifth chapter. x**


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